Russia’s anti-war presidential candidate Boris Nadezhdin announced on Thursday, the 8th of February, that he will appeal to the Supreme Court after the Central Election Commission (CEC) barred him from participating in the March elections, which are expected to be won by current President Vladimir Putin, reports Reuters.
On Monday, the CEC invalidated 15% of the first 60 000 signatures, bringing Nadezhdin below the required 5% threshold, and pointed to flaws in the signatures collected, including the presence of deceased persons’ signatures. At a meeting at headquarters in Moscow on Thursday, election officials said that because of these flaws
he had not collected 100 000 validated signatures and could therefore not participate.
Boris Nadezhdin said on his official Telegram channel that he disagreed with the CEC’s decision and would challenge it in the Russian Supreme Court, arguing that the collection of more than 200 000 signatures was carried out openly and honestly, “the queues outside our headquarters and at the signature collection points were watched by the whole world”, Nadezhdin said.
He has expressed his determination to run in the 2024 presidential elections.
He called on his supporters to keep the faith. “Something has happened that many people could not believe: citizens have felt that change is possible in Russia,” Nadezhdin said.
Although he was not seen as a winner, Nadezhdin has surprised analysts with his open criticism of Russia’s “military operation” in Ukraine, which he has called a “fatal mistake”.
The Kremlin, which has previously said it does not consider Nadezhdin to be a serious Putin challenger, has said that the CEC’s decision to refuse Nadezhdin’s registration is in line with all relevant rules.
To qualify to run, he needed 100 000 signatures from at least 40 regions. Putin has allegedly collected more than 3.5 million signatures, exceeding the 300 000 required.
Also read: Anti-war presidential candidate Nadezhdin collects enough signatures to challenge Putin
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