The Central Election Commission denied Boris Nadezhdin registration: reasons, reaction, candidates

On Thursday, February 8, the Central Election Commission (CEC) officially refused to register politician Boris Nadezhdin as a candidate for the Russian presidential election.

The decision was made in accordance with federal law on the basis that the total number of unreliable and invalid signatures identified during the audit amounted to five or more percent of the total number.

The CEC invalidated 9,147 signatures in support of Nadezhdin. Of the 104,734 signatures submitted by the politician, 60 thousand were verified. In addition, 11 dead souls were found in the subscription lists in his support.

The politician plans to go to court

In his social networks, the politician, commenting on the decision of the Central Election Commission, notedthat in this way the commission is not denying him personally, but “tens of millions of people who hope for change.”

Speaking before the commission, the candidate for the post of President of the Russian Federation from the Civil Initiative party asked to postpone consideration of the issue of his registration to February 10, which he had previously asked for. If he is not allowed to participate in the elections, Nadezhdin plans to appeal to the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation. He clarified that his headquarters on the morning of February 8 submitted written objections to the CEC based on the results of the verification of signatures.

At the same time, he indicated that the procedures for collecting signatures, in his opinion, are written in such a way “that it is impossible to comply with them.” In addition, the politician previously admitted that when preparing documents for registration as a candidate, a “fantastic mistake” was discovered in the work of his headquarters.

In response to Nadezhdin’s speech, CEC Chairman Ella Pamfilova stated that his time to challenge the results of signature verification had been exhausted, and advised go to court. Based on the results of his speech, Nadezhdin called the decision to refuse registration of the candidate expected. He emphasized that he has no complaints against the CEC, but he does have complaints against legislators. “I ask you not to give up,” Nadezhdin addressed those supporting him.

The CEC's decision regarding Nadezhdin was commented on in the Kremlin

Press Secretary of the Russian President Dmitry Peskov commented on the commission’s decision not to allow the politician to participate in the Russian presidential elections.

The Kremlin representative emphasized that the CEC follows the rules that are established for candidates.

On the same day, the Central Election Commission refused to register two more presidential candidates.

On February 8, the commission refused to register the leader of the Communists of Russia party, Sergei Malinkovich, as a candidate for the post of president.

Of the 60 thousand signatures in support of Malinkovych, the commission invalidated 8,979. This number exceeds the acceptable defect threshold of five percent. The CEC made the decision to refuse registration of the politician unanimously.

In addition, the blogger Rada of Russians was denied registration to vote. Following the meeting, it became clear that there would be four candidates on the ballot for the Russian presidential election, Pamfilova summed up.

The first three-day presidential election in Russian history will be held from March 15 to 17. Four candidates completed the registration procedure: the current head of state Vladimir Putin, the representative of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation Nikolai Kharitonov, the leader of the LDPR Leonid Slutsky and the deputy chairman of the lower house of parliament from the “New People” Vladislav Davankov. Residents of 29 Russian regions, including Moscow, will be able to vote remotely. Acceptance of applications for online voting started on January 29 and will last until March 11.