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September elections in Russia to have high competition level

Elections of various levels will be held in 80 Russian regions on the vote day

MOSCOW, July 10 (Itar-Tass) - The Russian Central Election Commission notes the gubernatorial elections that will be held on September 8 are expected to have a high competition level.

Gubernatorial elections will be held in eight regions.

As for now, there are 93 contenders, CEC deputy chairman Leonid Ivlev told reporters on Wednesday.

"We note the very high level of competition - almost 12 contenders for one seat," he said.

According to Ivlev, 25 political parties nominate their candidates.

The number of contenders for the governor post varies in regions - from five candidates for the elections of governor in the Chukotka Autonomous Area to 40 for the elections of mayor in Moscow.

One contender is already registered to be the first registered candidate. It is Yelena Vasina nominated by the LDPR for the post of governor of the Chukotka Autonomous Area, the deputy commission chairman said.

The first among independents to submit the documents for the registration is Acting Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin. He has handed over his documents to be registered as an independent candidate for the post of mayor.

According to Ivlev, registration denials have been already reported. The election commission of the Transbaikal Territory on Wednesday denied registration to Andrei Koshelev, a candidate from the Civic Platform party, explaining that 13 of the signatures in his support were from persons who were not municipal deputies. Besides, 26 municipal deputies earlier already gave their signatures for other candidates. "It is an absolute violation of the law," Ivlev noted.

Elections of various levels will be held in 80 Russian regions on the vote day, September 8. The competition level will be high, the CEC notes. According to him, 37 parties have nominated their candidates for the regional and municipal elections. The number of parties may even rise for the municipal elections. The number must not exceed 54.

The election campaign is expected to be interesting, the official said.

No complaints about the election campaign have been brought so far, Ivlev said to reporters in reply to a question. "Forty days have passed since the beginning of the election campaign, and no complaint has been brought yet," he said.