Russia’s Central Election Commission refuses to register Putin challenger Boris Nadezhdin in upcoming elections

Russia’s Central Election Commission (CEC) voted on Thursday not to register Putin challenger Boris Nadezhdin as a candidate in the country’s upcoming presidential election. Nadezhdin called the decision “expected” and said he intends to appeal the decision to the Russian Supreme Court.

Prior to the vote, the CEC issued a recommendation to reject Nadezhdin’s candidacy, prompting the politician to issue a statement on his Telegram channel:

I disagree with the CEC’s decision. I’ve collected over 200,000 signatures from across Russia. We conducted the collection openly and honestly — the whole world monitored lines at our headquarters and at collection points.

Running for president in 2024 is the most important political decision of my life. I’m not backing down from my intentions.

According to the CEC, it received 104,734 signatures in support of Nadezhdin. After checking 60,000 signatures, the body invalidated 9,147.

The CEC said it found the signatures of 11 deceased individuals. It rejected another 858 signatures due to information it said it received from Russia’s Internal Affairs Ministry. The committee invalidated 1,767 signatures because the individual who collected them was not on the official list of collectors and 995 where the collector’s personal data reportedly differed from what was on the official list. Another 123 were rejected because someone other than the collector allegedly filled out the sheets on their behalf.

During the meeting, Nadezhdin asked the committee to postpone its final ruling on whether to allow his candidacy to February 10.

“It’s not just me standing here. Behind me are hundreds of thousands of Russian citizens who have signed for me […] According to all polls, I’m in second place after Putin. These are tens of millions of people who want to vote for me. And you’re telling me about signatures from 11 dead people and about incorrect passports,” he said.

The CEC refused to postpone its ruling.