The Central Election Commission (CEC) of Russia has officially registered Vladimir Putin's candidacy for the upcoming March presidential elections, as reported by the Russian agency TASS, according to Digi24.
CEC head Ella Pamfilova announced the unanimous decision of the commission. Natalia Budarina, the CEC secretary, informed that out of the 315,000 signatures submitted in support of Putin, 60,000 were randomly selected for verification.
"Following the checks, 91 signatures out of the 60,000 were invalidated due to inaccuracies in voter information," Budarina stated, clarifying that there were no false signatures.
Putin has become the fourth candidate registered for Russia's presidential election. The CEC had previously registered representatives from three parliamentary parties: Leonid Slutsky (Liberal Democratic Party of Russia, LDPR), Vladislav Davankov (New People party), and Nikolai Haritonov (Communist Party of the Russian Federation, KPRF).
This will be Putin's fifth presidential election in his political career. He has been elected as head of state four times (2000, 2004, 2012, 2018), with his best result in 2018, receiving 76.69% of the votes, as reported by TASS.
Supporters and opponents alike expect Putin to secure a new six-year term, which, if completed, would make him the longest-serving Russian leader since the 18th century, as noted by Reuters.
Since the beginning of the war in Ukraine, Putin has intensified the repression against the opposition, with most prominent critics either fleeing abroad or being incarcerated, adds the British news agency.
Candidates running against Putin, including anti-war candidate Boris Nadejdin, have until Wednesday to gather the required number of supporter signatures.
