MOSCOW, February 8. /TASS/. Russia’s Central Election Commission (CEC) has concluded the registration of presidential candidates. A total of eight people - one independent contender and seven candidates nominated by political parties - have been granted the right to stand in the election.
The candidates’ names will be listed on the ballot in Russian alphabetical order:
- Baburin Sergei (Russian All-People’s Union)
- Grudinin Pavel (Communist Party of Russia)
- Zhirinovsky Vladimir (LDPR)
- Putin Vladimir (independent)
- Sobchak Ksenia (Civil Initiative)
- Suraikin Maxim (Communists of Russia)
- Titov Boris (Party of Growth)
- Yavlinsky Grigory (Yabloko)
In order to be registered as presidential candidates, independent contenders had to submit to the CEC no less than 300,000 signatures but no more than 315,000, while candidates nominated by non-parliamentary parties had to present at least 100,000 signatures but no more than 105,000.
Candidates nominated by parliamentary parties - leader of the of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDPR) Vladimir Zhirinovsky and Communist Party’s candidate Pavel Grudinin - were the first to be registered as candidates because they did not have to collect voter signatures.
Out of 16 contenders who collected voter signatures only six managed to submit the required amount of voter autographs to the Central Election Commission. All of them were granted registration as the number of invalid signatures did not exceed the 5% level allowed by the law.