The regional aspects of the election of deputies to the 7th State Duma of the Russian Federation (based on the sociological survey in Buryatia)

The author reports that the difference between the declared and real voter turnout in Buryatia is bigger than the national average. This is due to the regional depression and the increased social apathy of a large part of citizens caused by a sharp decline in their low monetary income. The research focuses on the relationship between the party choice and the characteristics of the electorate (gender, age, nationality, education, employment, family and financial status). Having analyzed the correlation between the party choice and the characteristics of the electorate by the Pearson coefficient, the author identifies that the choice of Fair Russia is not seriously affected by any factor while the choice of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation is strongly influenced by the age of a person. Mostly, elderly citizens voted for it. Gender and education had a less impact on the choice of the United Russia. Women having secondary vocational, incomplete higher and higher education were most likely to vote for this party. When electing the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia, such factors as gender, age and nationality played a key role.