MOSCOW, February 26. /TASS/. The upcoming presidential election in Russia has not sparked active conversation in Russian society, and more than half of respondents managed to name only four in eight presidential contenders, according to a poll conducted by the Russian Public Opinion Research Center.

According to the poll’s materials, which TASS has at its disposal, 53% of the respondents reported that they did not discuss the election issue with their family and friends at all. "Twenty-one percent discussed whom they’ll vote for, and 10% [spoke] of the candidates’ personalities and achievements," the report says.

After the end of the candidates’ registration, the respondents were asked to recall the surnames that will be on the ballot. "More than half mentioned the names of just four out of the eight candidates that will be on the ballot: these are Vladimir Putin (82%), Ksenia Sobchak (60%), Vladimir Zhirinovsky (60%) and Pavel Grudinin (55%)," the Public Opinion Research Center reported.

According to the survey, "about 37% of those polled know about Grigory Yavlinsky’s participation at the election and 17% know about Boris Titov’s participation." As many as 8% of the survey participants know that the Central Election Commission registered leader of the Russian People’s Union Sergey Baburin, and 6% know about leader of the Communists of Russia Maxim Suraikin’s participation.

The polling method

The survey by the state-run pollster was conducted on February 18-19, 2018, by telephone among a stratified dual-frame random sample of landline and mobile numbers of 2,000 adult respondents. The sample is based on a full list of telephone numbers in operation throughout Russia.

The sampling data weighting was based on the probabilities of selection and socio-demographic factors. The margin of sampling error does not exceed 2.2% with a 95% probability. Apart from the sampling error, question wordings and various circumstances arising in the process of the fieldwork may affect the polling results.

The presidential election

The Russian presidential election will be held on March 18, 2018.

Eight contenders are presently running for the nation’s highest office. Among them incumbent Russian President Vladimir Putin, who will participate as an independent candidate, LDPR leader Vladimir Zhirinovsky, businessman Pavel Grudinin nominated by CPRF, one of the founders of the Yabloko party Grigory Yavlinsky, leader of the Party of Growth business ombudsman Boris Titov, head of the Russian People’s Union party and former Deputy Speaker of the State Duma Sergey Baburin, TV host Ksenia Sobchak (nominated by Civil Initiative) and head of the Communists of Russia Maxim Suraikin.