The head of Khakassia was one of the first in Russia to hand over the signatures of deputies to participate in the elections

The head of Khakassia, Valentin Konovalov (KPRF), contrary to some expectations, was the first of the contenders for the post of head of a constituent entity of the Russian Federation to hand over the signatures of municipal deputies to the election commission, which are necessary for registration in the elections. The participation in the elections of his main opponent, State Duma deputy from United Russia, Sergei Sokol, makes the campaign in the republic the most competitive in Russia.

Konovalov collected 129 signatures of municipal deputies in support of his candidacy – this is the maximum allowable number that a candidate for the post of head of Khakassia can submit to the election commission. In the region, the municipal filter is set at the maximum bar – 10% of signatures, including at least 26 from the heads and deputies of representative bodies of the city and district level from at least 10 different cities and districts of the republic. Konovalov collected deputies’ autographs in all 13 municipalities of Khakassia, the election commission has 10 days to check the signatures for authenticity.

Not everyone was sure that the head of Khakassia would be able to collect signatures in support of his candidacy. On April 4, secretary of the republican committee for organizational and party work, deputy of the Supreme Council of the republic, Lyudmila Kaufman, told Kommersant that in Khakassia the Communist Party did not have enough deputies and heads to overcome the filter. However, the first deputy chairman of the Central Committee of the Communist Party, State Duma deputy Yuri Afonin, told Vedomosti that from the very beginning of the election campaign there were no problems with collecting signatures in support of Konovalov. “Among those who were ready to support Konovalov were representatives of various political forces,” he explained. According to Afonin, the head of Khakassia collected the signatures of the municipalities “with a margin of two times.”

None of the nominees for governors of other regions, where direct elections are planned on September 10, has yet announced the collection of signatures for passing the municipal filter. Konovalov’s main opponent, Sokol, who returned from the special operation zone in April, submitted documents to participate in the elections on June 15. He continues to collect signatures, the press service of United Russia told Vedomosti.

Due to Sokol’s participation in the election of the head of Khakassia, the campaign in the republic promises to become the most competitive in Russia, says political analyst Rostislav Turovsky. In his opinion, it would be strange if the current head of the region could not collect signatures in his support. “In addition, Konovalov has recently begun to act more decisively and count on victory,” he added. According to Turovsky, both main rivals have sufficient resources, so it is too early to predict the outcome of the campaign.

Political scientist Alexander Kynev believes that the campaign in Khakassia has gone beyond the ideological framework of “a conditional communist against a conditional United Russia” and has turned into a campaign of “locals against strangers.”

Success in collecting signatures to pass the municipal filter does not accompany the nominees of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation everywhere.

State Duma deputy Maria Prusakova, who is running for governor of the Altai Territory, on June 19 filed an administrative lawsuit with the Railway Court of Barnaul to cancel the decision of the regional election committee, which instructs notaries, when certifying the signatures of municipal deputies, to demand from them a certificate signed by the chairman of the representative body. The plaintiff considers the requirement to provide certificates to be superfluous, “and whether a citizen is a deputy, the election commission should check.”

Political technologist Oleg Zakharov notes that notaries have the right to check the applicant’s right to sign the municipal filter, “because this is a specific right, only acting deputies have it, and a notary can request documents confirming it, and without them notarial action cannot be performed.”

With the exception of Primorye, the Communist Party of the Russian Federation nominated candidates for governors in all regions where elections will be held in September, State Duma deputy Sergei Obukhov, secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, told Vedomosti. In this region, due to the situation with the non-inclusion of party representatives in the composition of local precinct election commissions (PEC), the regional committee at the plenum decided to boycott the election of the governor. The Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation was sympathetic to the desire of the Primorye comrades, Afonin said: the final decision of the regional conference will be made on June 24.