A woman exits a polling booth before casting at a polling station during a city council election in Moscow, Russia, Sunday, Sept. 8, 2019. Residents of Russia's capital are voting in a city council election that is shadowed by a wave of protests that saw the biggest demonstrator turnout in seven years and a notably violent police response. (AP Photo/Pavel Golovkin)
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MOSCOW (AP) - Candidates supported by Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny won almost half the vote in the Moscow city council election, authorities said Monday.
Elections to the Moscow City Duma are usually low-key affairs but Sunday's vote grew in prominence when election authorities refused to register a dozen independent candidates, including well-known Kremlin critics.
The candidates' dismissal triggered major opposition protests over the summer.
With 99 percent of the votes counted, 20 candidates supported by Navalny got seats in the 45-member legislature. All of the 20 candidates, although often nominally opposing authorities, were endorsed by Navalny's Smart Voting strategy which called on voters to cast their ballots in order to oust the candidates of the United Russia party, which backs President Vladimir Putin.
"This is a terrific result, and we fought for it together," Navalny said in a tweet in the early hours on Monday.
In a sign that United Russia is losing ground in Moscow, the party did not officially nominate a single candidate for the Moscow City Duma, and all of its members or candidates affiliated with the party ran as independents, playing down their ties to the party.
United Russia nominees were seen winning governorships in several dozen regions in Sunday's elections.
In the Far East, however, they suffered a crushing defeat. The Liberal Democratic Party won all but one seat in the Khabarovsk City Duma and dominated in several other local elections including the mayoral vote.
The opposition celebrated Sunday's election results that would cut the pro-government presence in the council from 38 to 25 but many expressed disappointment with what has been perceived as an unfair registration process.
Daria Besedina, a candidate from the liberal Yabloko party who was allowed on the ballot and won in her district, said on Monday that she would vote for the dissolution of the legislature when it convenes.
"We shouldn't forget that these were not real elections - a lot of genuine (opposition) candidates who would have won were not allowed to run," she tweeted. "Moscow would have got an opposition Duma if all the candidates were registered."
Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny speaks to media after voting during a city council election in Moscow, Russia, Sunday, Sept. 8, 2019. Residents of Russia's capital are voting in a city council election that is shadowed by a wave of protests that saw the biggest demonstrator turnout in seven years and a notably violent police response. (AP Photo/Andrew Lubimov)
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An elderly woman with her dog exits a polling booth before casting at a polling station during a city council election in Moscow, Russia, Sunday, Sept. 8, 2019. Residents of Russia's capital are voting in a city council election that is shadowed by a wave of protests that saw the biggest demonstrator turnout in seven years and a notably violent police response. (AP Photo/Pavel Golovkin)
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Election commission officials wait for voters at a polling station during governor's and a region's council elections, with the portrait of former Soviet leader Josef Stalin above, in Volgograd, Russia, Sunday, Sept. 8, 2019. Residents of Russia are voting in different local elections that is shadowed by a wave of protests in Moscow that saw the biggest demonstrator turnout in seven years and a notably violent police response. (AP Photo/Dmitriy Rogulin)
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Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny casts his ballot during a city council election in Moscow, Russia, Sunday, Sept. 8, 2019. Residents of Russia's capital are voting in a city council election that is shadowed by a wave of protests that saw the biggest demonstrator turnout in seven years and a notably violent police response. (AP Photo/Andrew Lubimov)
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Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny waits for his ballot to vote during a city council election in Moscow, Russia, Sunday, Sept. 8, 2019. Residents of Russia's capital are voting in a city council election that is shadowed by a wave of protests that saw the biggest demonstrator turnout in seven years and a notably violent police response. (AP Photo/Andrew Lubimov)
The Associated Press
A woman reads pre-election leaflets at a polling station during a city council election in Moscow, Russia, Sunday, Sept. 8, 2019. Residents of Russia's capital are voting in a city council election that is shadowed by a wave of protests that saw the biggest demonstrator turnout in seven years and a notably violent police response. (AP Photo/Andrew Lubimov)
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