The lower house of the Russian parliament...

The bill was drawn up following proposals put forward by President Dmitry Medvedev during his state-of-the-nation address last November. He said the changes were intended to create "free, fair and civilized competition between parties."

Russian electoral law provides the country"s regions with the right to set a minimum electoral barrier for political parties. The barrier, however, should not exceed 7%.

The amendment stipulates that in regions with a minimum electoral barrier exceeding 5%, a party that garners 5% or more in local parliamentary polls but fails to pass the minimum level, receives one seat in local legislatures.

If a party gains less than 5% of the vote, it does not make it into a parliament.

Parties that get one seat in local legislatures also receive the right to free airtime on state and municipal TV channels, along with other parties.

The parties are also allowed to take part in local polls without collecting the set number of

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