MOSCOW, November 26 (Itar-Tass) — The Russian CEC gathers on Saturday for its meeting to approve a calendar plan for preparing and holding the presidential elections. The draft of this document was adopted by the country’s main election commission back in early October. The document consists of seven sections in line with the main stages of the presidential election campaign.
The Rossiiskaya Gazeta published on Saturday the decision of the Federation Council upper chamber on fixing the election of the head of state on March 4, 2012. The decision was taken by senators on Friday. It comes into force since the time of its official publication.
In compliance of the draft of the calendar plan, the nomination of candidates may start right after the start of the election race. Political parties which are to hold a congress for this purpose, have the right to nominate a hopeful for the country’s main post. United Russia that will nominate its leader, premier Vladimir Putin as its presidential candidate at the congress on November 27, will be the first to launch the presidential campaign.
Other parliamentary parties already fixed dates of their congresses, but they will be hold after the general elections.
Independents may also join the race for the presidential post, but for this purpose they need to stage a meeting of their initiative group of voters, set up to support their candidates.
Acdording to the calendar plan, approved as a whole, documents for registration should be forwarded for registration to the Russian CEC no earlier than December 14 and no later than January 18 by 18.00. Incidentally, candidates from non-parliamentary parties or independents are to collect for this purpose over two million signatures. The law gives ten days to the Central Election Commission for the examination of the question on registration. Thus, the country will know already late in January who will run for the country’s top office at the elections on March 4, 2012.
As for summing up the results of presidential elections, the CEC announces, as a rule, preliminary results in the morning after Election Day, that is on March 5, 2012. In compliance with legislation, official results are to be summed up no later than March 15. However, the practice of federal elections shows that the Central Election Commission does this usually much earlier.
Despite the short time, connected with the finish of the general elections, the country’s main election commission started preparing for the presidential elections earlier. Secretary of the Central Election Commission said that the CEC had adopted the overwhelming majority of normative documents on the presidential election race. The CEC already approved the composition of a working group on acceptance of documents from contestants for the country’s main post, he specified.
The country will elect the head of state already for six years at the presidential elections to be held exactly three months after the general polls. The term of office of State Duma deputies was increased to five years. Thus, federal elections will be separated in time in future; and the country experiences a non-stop six-month election marathon race the last time.