MOSCOW, January 12. /TASS/. Four political parties have notified Russia’s Central Election Commission (CEC) about plans to hold congresses on January 11-12 to designate their candidates for the upcoming presidential election.
"Representatives of four political parties notified the CEC of Russia about holding party congresses to nominate candidates to the post of the Russian president on January 11-12", the committee’s press service said on Thursday.
Under the law, a party should notify the CEC about an upcoming congress in 24 hours, if it takes place in Moscow, and in three days if it convenes in another region.
In total, the CEC received such notifications from 23 parties and 46 would-be independent candidates, including incumbent President Vladimir Putin, since the election campaign began on December 18. However, not all of them eventually submitted their documents to the commission.
The deadline for submitting registration documents by independent candidates expired at 24:00 Moscow time on January 7, party candidates can submit their documents until 24:00 Moscow time on January 12.
The Russian presidential election is scheduled to take place on March 18. So far, two independent candidates and 14 party members have successfully completed their nomination. Three nominees were removed from the presidential race due to violations, and one withdrew his candidacy.
Until January 31, candidates are to gather and submit to the CEC signatures in support of their nomination. Independent candidates require 300,000 signatures, non-parliamentary parties need 100,000 signatures. The requirement of collecting signatures does not apply to parties that have seats in the Russian parliament.