NIHR Participates in Monitoring Russian State Duma Elections
Eng. Ali Ahmed Alderazi, Chairperson of the National Institution for Human Rights (NIHR), represented the Institution in monitoring the Russian State Duma elections, held in the Russian Federation from 18 to 20 September 2026. His participation came at the invitation of the Commissioner for Human Rights in the Russian Federation, alongside representatives of human rights institutions and international observers.
As part of the monitoring activities, Alderazi visited several polling stations and the main election monitoring headquarters, where he observed the conduct of the electoral process, organizational procedures, and voting mechanisms. He also followed various aspects of the elections, including the presence of representatives and observers from participating political parties and the mechanisms for monitoring the vote-counting process.
Alderazi was also briefed on the remote electronic voting system, which was a notable feature of the elections alongside traditional voting at polling stations. Electronic voting through the federal platform was implemented across 32 regions, in addition to Moscow’s own electronic voting system.
On the sidelines of his participation, Alderazi took part in a roundtable entitled “Election Monitoring: International Dialogue and Best Practices,” held in Moscow with the participation of representatives from a number of foreign human rights institutions. During the roundtable, he highlighted NIHR’s experience in election monitoring and emphasized the importance of dialogue, exchange of expertise, and learning from diverse experiences despite differences in legal systems and national contexts. He noted that such exchanges contribute to enhancing public participation and safeguarding the rights and freedoms associated with electoral processes. He also pointed out that the electronic voting experience, which witnessed broad participation, merits further study and exchange of expertise.
NIHR’s participation forms part of its efforts to exchange expertise and practices in the human rights monitoring of electoral processes, given their close connection to a range of fundamental rights and freedoms, particularly participation in public life, freedom of opinion and expression, equality and non-discrimination, as well as transparency of procedures and the effectiveness of complaint and appeal mechanisms.
NIHR has accumulated extensive experience in this field, having previously monitored parliamentary and municipal elections in the Kingdom of Bahrain in 2018, 2022, and 2024. It has also participated in monitoring legislative elections in Jordan, regional elections in Morocco, and the Russian State Duma elections in 2021.
