Registration of candidates for regional legislative assemblies is over

Last week, the registration of candidates for the legislative assemblies of the regions (with the exception of new subjects) was completed. The Duma parties are expected to take part in all campaigns, except for the elections in the Nenets Autonomous Okrug (NAO), where the New People faced difficulties. The most active “small” party was the Communists of Russia, which will compete for mandates in every second region. The lists of Rodina were registered the least successfully, while Yabloko fielded only single-seat candidates this year, and even then unsuccessfully.

The Duma five – United Russia (ER), KPRF, LDPR, Just Russia – For Truth (SRZP) and New People (NL) – nominated candidates in all regions where registration was completed. Everyone successfully passed this stage, except for the NL in the Nenets Autonomous Okrug. There, the electoral committee found a whole bunch of shortcomings in their documents: the list put forward differed from that presented for certification, there was not enough information about the party membership of the candidates, there was no visa of the party chairman, and some applications were not dated. As a result, the commission refused to certify both the IP’s district list and all of its single-mandate members.

Recall that on September 10, elections to legislative assemblies will be held in Bashkiria, Buryatia, Kalmykia, Yakutia, Khakassia, Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics (DPR and LPR), Trans-Baikal Territory, Arkhangelsk, Vladimir, Zaporozhye, Ivanovo, Irkutsk, Kemerovo, Rostov, Smolensk, Ulyanovsk , Kherson and Yaroslavl regions, as well as in the NAO. Candidate registration has been completed in all regions, with the exception of new subjects of the Russian Federation: there, the nomination of lists will last until August 17, and the registration stage will end on August 23.

The most active of the non-parliamentary forces in the 2023 elections was the Communist Party “Communists of Russia” (KPKR), which put forward lists in Khakassia, Transbaikalia, Arkhangelsk, Vladimir, Ivanovo, Irkutsk, Rostov, Smolensk, Ulyanovsk and Yaroslavl regions, as well as in the NAO. However, they did not have the privilege that allows them to nominate candidates without collecting signatures everywhere. As a result, the Irkutsk Regional Electoral Committee immediately rejected 16% of the autographs collected by the KPKR and refused to register the list (no more than 5% of defects are allowed). And in the Vladimir region, the party members themselves at the last moment withdrew the documents.

Also, the KPKR could leave the fight ahead of schedule in Khakassia, where the election commission could not decide on the registration of its list due to a complaint from the KPRF. Competitors insisted that two candidates of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, including Vladimir Grudinin, who claims to be the head of the republic, allegedly did not officially withdraw from the Communist Party of the Russian Federation. However, as previously reported by Kommersant, the Central Election Commission intervened in the situation, which, by its decision, registered both the list of the KKKR and Mr. Grudinin personally.

The least successful current campaign is for Rodina, which put forward lists in nine regions, but failed to get registration in five of them. In Kuzbass and the Smolensk region, the “Rodintsy” did not submit a complete package of documents, and in the Ulyanovsk region they did not cover the entire territory of the region as candidates, which is why the election commissions refused to certify their lists. In the Rostov and Yaroslavl regions, the party failed to collect voters’ signatures. As a result, “Motherland” will take part in the elections only in Yakutia, NAO, Transbaikalia and the Arkhangelsk region.

Modestly behaved this time the Party of Pensioners, which recently claimed a seat in the State Duma and the status of the main non-parliamentary force in the regions. “Pensioners” put forward lists only in four subjects where they had benefits – in Khakassia, Vladimir, Smolensk and Yaroslavl regions. They did not attempt to collect signatures this year.

The participation of other “small” parties in the elections will be sporadic. Thus, the lists of the Greens were registered in the NAO, Arkhangelsk and Smolensk regions, the Russian Party of Freedom and Justice – in Kalmykia and the Irkutsk region, and the “Civil Platform” – in the Irkutsk region. The Party for Justice put forward a list in Khakassia, and the Civil Initiative in the Nenets Autonomous Okrug, but both failed.

Yabloko fielded only a few single-seat candidates this year: three in Yakutia, two in Bashkiria, and one each in Vladimir and Ivanovo regions. None of them managed to register. The Party of Social Protection in Kuzbass and the Party of Affairs in Yakutia and Transbaikalia also unsuccessfully tried to nominate one single-seat member. As for self-nominated candidates, out of 95 people in all regions, only 20 received the coveted candidate’s certificate.

Andrew Ashes