MOSCOW, December 20. /TASS/. Russia’s Central Election Commission (CEC) has so far received applications from 16 candidates to be officially registered as participants in the 2024 presidential election, CEC Chairwoman Ella Pamfilova said.

"So far, we have received applications from 16 candidates for the presidential election. The election campaign is now entering an active phase," she said, adding that, according to the CEC, the number of applications for election candidates will increase in the future.

The Russian Central Election Commission at a meeting on Wednesday registered a group of voters created to support the self-nomination of incumbent Russian President Vladimir Putin in the March 2024 presidential election and approved the opening of a special account in Sberbank to begin collecting 300,000 signatures of voters to register for the election. Putin is currently the only self-nominated candidate who has received permission to collect signatures in his support.

The Federation Council has set the election for March 17, 2024. The Russian Central Election Commission has decided that the election will be held over three days: on March 15, 16 and 17.