MOSCOW, June 18. /TASS/. A total of 32 political parties are entitled to participate in the September 19 State Duma elections, 14 of them do not need to gather signatures in support of their candidates, Russian Central Electoral Commission Deputy Chairman Nikolay Bulayev said Friday. 

"We received a list of 32 political parties, entitled to participate in the elections of State Duma deputies, from the Ministry of Justice," Bulayev said during the Central Electoral Commission meeting Friday.

According to Bulayev, the parties that can run without gathering signatures are: the United Russia, the Communist Party, the Liberal Democratic Party, the Just Russia - For Truth, the Party of Pensioners, the Communists of Russia, the Homeland, the New People, the Yabloko, the Green Alternative, the Party of Growth, the Greens, the Russian Party of Freedom and Justice, and the Civic Platform.

The so-called "parliamentary benefit," or exemption of signature gathering, is provided to parties represented in the State Duma, who previously gathered at least 3% of votes, or represented in at least one regional parliament. All other parties, entitled to participation in the elections, will have to gather at least 200,000 signatures in support of their candidate list, or at least 3% of voters in single-mandate electoral districts.

Earlier, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed an order scheduling Duma elections to the single voting day of September 19, 2021. The order has been officially published, marking the official start of the electoral campaign.