Maximum of 20 parties to take part in December parliamentary elections

A maximum of 20 political parties and blocs will be taking part in the December elections to the State Duma, but only 3 or 5 of them will be able to overcome the five-percent threshold to get seats in the lower house of the Russian parliament, Alexander Veshnyakov, Chairman of the Russian Central Electoral Commission, told a Friday press conference in Moscow.

As of today, the right to take part in the parliamentary elections has been granted to 41 parties that had their branches registered in more than half of the Russian Federation constituent members.

In order to have their lists registered, a party can also collect at least 200,000 signatures of its supporters, Veshnyakov reminded the assembly.

"This is quite possible for those of political parties that actually exist," he stressed. "The ones that exist on paper or in the minds of their leaders will hardly be able to have their lists registered." Speaking about the specifics of the upcoming election campaign, the Central Electoral Commission chairman stressed: "There will be mass public control over the work of electoral commissions and the vote counting process." He added that the voters would undoubtedly display a "keener interest in the results of the elections" as the main factor determining the country's future policy.