Residents of Elista considered the activity of voters significant.

On the first day of voting at polling stations in Elista, many came to vote, residents reported. According to the Kalmykia election commission, turnout exceeded 21%.

As reported by "Caucasian Knot", residents of Elista named rising prices among the main problems and stated that they plan to participate in the elections on September 18-20.

Two residents of Elista, who requested not to publish their names, told a correspondent of the "Caucasian Knot" that they voted at polling stations on September 18. The material from the "Caucasian Knot" is not a public opinion poll, does not claim to be representative, and is not intended to determine the political preferences of voters, intentions to vote for specific candidates, or to predict election results.

One of them explained that she wanted to "vote as quickly as possible". She noted that there were many voters at her polling station who also came to vote.

The other resident of Elista also reported that she visited the polling station on September 18 and noticed a significant number of voters voting there alongside her.

Both women do not consider the elections a form of protest. They called voting "the choice of the people" and "an opportunity to choose a deputy".

The Kalmykia election commission reported in the evening of September 18 about the turnout on the first day of voting. "As of 20:00, more than 21% of voters have voted in the elections for deputies of the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation of the ninth convocation in single-member electoral district No. 18", the commission reported on its page on "VKontakte".

Recall that in 2021, during the elections in the federal district in Kalmykia, the votes of voters were distributed as follows: 39.52% of voters voted for "United Russia", 25.97% for CPRF, 12.23% for "New People", and 5.86% for "Fair Russia". In Elista, 28.95% of voters voted for CPRF, and 26.66% for "United Russia".

Analysts interviewed by the "Caucasian Knot" noted at that time that voting in Kalmykia was essentially protest voting, influenced by a surge of protest activity after the appointment of Dmitry Trapeznikov as head of the Elista administration in 2019.

Materials on the 2026 election campaign have been collected by the "Caucasian Knot" on the page "Elections-2026: where will the protest go?".