The President and Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, the United Russia party chairman, will visit the party's main office, where ahead of the United Primary Election Day scheduled for May 22, they will discuss with its participants, who have undergone the registration procedure, the details of this new political initiative to be applied during the elections to the State Duma.
United Russia began to introduce the practice of primary election – the selection of candidates from the party for their successive nomination as candidates for deputies – in 2006 at the regional level. In 2009, a rule on obligatory primary election was formalised in the party's Charter.
To select candidates for deputies to the State Duma of the seventh convocation, United Russia carried out the procedure of nominating candidates for participation in the primary election from February 15 through April 10. A total of 3,283 people submitted applications, and 2,954 of them were registered, with 954 non-party applicants. There are 2,168 participants registered at single-member constituencies and 1,122 registered by party lists.