This Thursday, Russia’s Supreme Court rejected the first appeal filed by opponent Boris Nadezhdin against the rules of the Central Election Commission (CEC), making his candidacy in the March presidential election impossible due to thousands of invalid signatures.
Named a peace candidate for opposing the war in Ukraine, Boris Nadezhdin submitted 105,000 signatures to the election commission to qualify for a seat in a race in which President Vladimir Putin is the favorite.
However, the CEC said that more than 9,000 signatures submitted were invalid – enough to disqualify him. According to Russian election rules, potential candidates cannot have more than 5% of their signatures rejected.
A candidate from the “Civil Initiative”, critical of the Kremlin (Russian presidency) and the invasion of Ukraine, appealed to the Supreme Court, which has now confirmed the decision of the Central Election Commission, according to official Russian news agencies and Nadezhdin himself, who confirmed this on his account on the platform. Telegram, which will continue the legal fight, is now in the Constitutional Court.
Nadezhdin said he had broad social support, saying there were queues at signature collection sites, an unusual show of support in the tightly controlled political landscape. He also posted photos of the Supreme Court building, which was attended by supporters and a large number of media representatives.
After learning of the Supreme Court decision, the so-called peace candidate, known as the only one opposing Russia’s military campaign in Ukraine, said he would appeal to the Constitutional Court.
The Supreme Court has not yet considered the second complaint by Nadezhdin’s campaign headquarters against the decision of the election commission.
The signing event in support of Nadezhdin’s candidacy was the first legal and mass demonstration of opposition to the war in Ukraine since the outbreak of the conflict in February 2022.
The opposition accuses President Putin of doing everything possible to prevent Nadezhdin’s participation, fearing that he will unite all those dissatisfied not only with the war, but also with the Kremlin’s authoritarian drift.
The CEC registered four candidates: in addition to Putin; communist Nikolai Kharitonov; Leonid Slutsky (far right) and people’s deputy Vladislav Davankov.
Although he has publicly assured that he would not do so, Putin amended the Constitution in 2020 to allow him to be re-elected, which he could do again in six years and thus remain in the Kremlin until 2036.
The Russian presidential elections will be held from March 15 to 17.