The Republic of Kalmykia residents’ electoral preferences analysis on the eve of the elections to the State Duma of the eighth convocation (according to a sociological study in 2021)

This article reveals the electoral preferences of the residents of the Republic of Kalmykia in the elections to the State Duma of the eighth convocation in 2021. This article reveals the study of electoral preferences of residents of the Republic of Kalmykia in the elections to the State Duma of the eighth convocation in 2021. The empirical basis of the study was the data of sociological monitoring, which was conducted among the citizens of the region several months before the single voting day. The authors also studied the main approaches to the characterization of electoral behavior of citizens, presented in foreign and domestic scientific literature. The purpose of the article was to identify the main factors that influence the choice of voters when voting. The study was designed to establish whether there is a direct relationship between the political preferences of citizens and their standard of living, gender or age. Several hypotheses have been put forward to explain the choice of voters when voting. To confirm them, the results of the sociological survey were compared with the results of the vote, which made it possible to create a typical portrait of the voter of the main political parties. The respondents' responses were also analyzed by socio-demographic characteristics. Based on the results of the work carried out, it was noted that this and similar studies can contribute to improving the system of forecasting election results at different levels.