Russian presidential election: Finalised ballots will have four candidates

Four candidates will compete for the post of President of Russia in the upcoming election, Central Election Commission Chair Ella Pamfilova said.

Two of the candidates have taken part in presidential election before, and two will do so for the first time.

Vladislav Davankov, New People

Member of the New People party, Deputy Speaker of the State Duma Vladislav Davankov, like other candidates from parties represented in the lower house of parliament, did not have to collect signatures in their support. The Central Election Commission registered him on January 5.

Before coming to politics, Davankov was engaged in entrepreneurship. In 2013, he took the post of vice president of Faberlic, founded by entrepreneur and politician Alexei Nechaev. In 2020, Davankov participated in the formation of the New People party, which subsequently obtained a faction in the State Duma.

In 2023, Davankov took part in the elections for the mayor of Moscow. He came fourth with 5.34 percent of the vote.

Vladimir Putin, self-nominated

On January 22, the Central Election Commission received 95 boxes with signatures in support of Vladimir Putin. More than 3.5 million people supported his nomination, First Vice-Speaker of the Federation Council Andrei Turchak said.

Putin is currently serving his fourth presidential term. He was first elected head of state on March 26, 2000, and then re-elected in 2004, 2012 and 2018. Putin received the right to stand as a candidate for elections in 2024 after the adoption of amendments to the Constitution.

Putin began his political career by working in the Leningrad mayor's office in the early 1990s, subsequently taking the post of first deputy head of the government of St. Petersburg, Anatoly Sobchak. In 1999, he headed the Russian government, and on December 31, Russia's first President Boris Yeltsin, who announced his resignation, named him acting head of state.

Leonid Slutsky, LDPR

LDPR leader Leonid Slutsky was nominated as a presidential candidate in December 2023; registration documents arrived at the CEC on December 1. The commission approved his participation in the elections unanimously.

Slutsky was first elected to the State Duma in 2003, after which he was re-elected in 2007, 2011, 2016 and 2021. Since 2016, he has headed the lower house of parliament committee on international affairs. In May 2022, the politician replaced Vladimir Zhirinovsky as head of the LDPR, becoming the new chairman of the party. After the start of the special operation, Slutsky was part of the negotiation group between Russia and Ukraine.

Nikolai Kharitonov, Communist Party of the Russian Federation

State Duma deputy from the Communist Party of the Russian Federation Nikolai Kharitonov will take part in the presidential election for the second time. His candidacy was proposed by the head of the party, Gennady Zyuganov. The CEC registered him on January 9.

In the 1990s, Kharitonov was a member of the Agrarian Party of Russia, and joined the Communist Party of the Russian Federation in 2007. In the State Duma, the politician heads the parliamentary committee for the development of the Far East and the Arctic. In March 2004, he already competed with Putin in the presidential election and finished second with 13.69 percent of the vote.

Four presidential candidates denied registration

As a result of the meeting of the election commission held on February 8, election candidate registration was denied to the leader of the Communists of Russia party Sergei Malinkovich, candidate from the Civil Initiative party Boris Nadezhdin, blogger Rada Russkikh and environmental activist Anatoly Batashev.

It was reported that the number of fake signatures in signature lists in support of Nadezhdin and Malinkovich exceeded the permissible threshold of five percent. The Central Election Commission also found dead souls in their documents. Russkikh and Batashev were unable to collect the number of signatures required for registration.

Russia's first-ever three-day presidential election will be held from March 15 to 17. Russian citizens will be able to cast their vote both traditionally and remotely. Online voting is available to residents of 29 regions, including Moscow.