Russian presidential election, 2018

Possible date change

In an article for Vedomosti, Yevgeny Gontmakher suggested that the rearrangement of the 2016 parliamentary elections from December to September indicated the intention of the authorities to transfer the presidential elections in the spring of 2016.

Speaking on 19 June 2015 at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, the head of the Committee of Civil Initiatives and former Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin suggested the feasibility of holding early presidential elections in March 2016, subsequently criticized by members of all parties represented in the State Duma. Kudrin himself ruled out the possibility of his participation in the presidential race. Commenting on this proposal, Sergey Ivanov said that he does not see any reason to reschedule the elections to an earlier date.

The 2016 parliamentary elections once again prompted thoughts of early elections. Gennady Zyuganov, a potential presidential candidate, said he was confident that the elections would be held in 2017.

According to Russian law, early elections can be held only if the President leaves office before the end of his term (in case of death, impeachment or voluntary resignation). However, in this case, the incumbent President Putin will not be able to participate in early elections.

At his annual press conference in December 2016, President Vladimir Putin, answering the question of the postponement of the elections, stated that: "Possible but impractical".

March 3, 2017 senators Andrey Klishas and Anatoly Shirokov was submitted to the State Duma draft amendments to the electoral legislation. One of the amendments involves the transfer of elections from the second to the third Sunday in March, i.e. from 11 to 18 March 2018.

Declared candidates

The following candidates have already declared their participation in the 2018 election.

Free access

Political parties represented in the State Duma and/or the legislative bodies of not less than one-third of the federal subjects can nominate a candidate without collecting signatures. The following parties will be able to nominate candidates without collecting signatures: United Russia, Communist Party, Liberal Democratic Party, A Just Russia, Rodina and Civic Platform.

In June 2015, Vladimir Zhirinovsky, said he plans to participate in presidential elections, but in July of the same year, the politician said that the Liberal Democratic Party, perhaps the "will pick up the person more efficient." Already in March 2016, he called the names of those who are likely to be nominated as a candidate from the Liberal Democratic Party. This is Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Igor Lebedev or deputies Mikhail Degtyarev, Yaroslav Nilov and Alexei Didenko. October 28, 2016, on the official website of the liberal democratic party was informed that the party will nominate Vladimir Zhirinovsky as a presidential candidate.

Contested access

Candidates from other political parties and independent candidates for registration must submit to the Central Election Commission at least 100,000 or 300,000 signatures in their support, respectively. Each federal subject should have no more than 2,500 or 7,500 signatures, respectively. The law allows a candidate exceed the signature limit by 5% by collecting up to 105,000 or 315,000 signatures, respectively. The Central Election Commission needs to verify at least 20% of signatures. If the number of invalid signatures exceeds 5%, another 10% of signatures need to be verified. If a candidate has submitted fewer signatures, a smaller margin of invalid signatures is sufficient to refuse registration.

Published in 2015, "Memorandum political alternative to" the party Yabloko Grigory Yavlinsky called the candidate of the party for President. Held in February 2016 party Convention, it was made the official decision to nominate Yavlinsky as a presidential candidate.

13 December 2016 Alexey Navalny announced his entry into the presidential race. 8 February 2017 the Leninsky district court of Kirov repeated its sentence of 2013 (which was previously annulled after the decision of ECHR, which ruled that Russia had violated Navalny's right for a fair trial, see Alexei_Navalny#Kirovles_case) and charged him with a five year suspended sentence. This sentence, if it comes into force and remains valid, might prohibit the future official registration of Navalny as a candidate. Navalny announced that he will pursue the annulment of the sentence which clearly contradicts the decision of ECHR. Moreover, Navalny announced that his presidential campaign will proceed independently of courts decisions. He referred to the Russian Constitution (Article 32), which deprives only two groups of citizens of the right to be elected: those recognized by court as legally unfit and those kept in places of confinement by a court sentence.

On 14 December 2016 Ryazan journalist Sergey Bizyukin was announced as the independent candidate.

On 15 December 2016 Anatoly Batashev, the adviser of the Mayor of Balashikha, was announced as the candidate of the Greens.

On 1 February 2017, the Central Committee of the party of Communists of Russia took a decision to nominate Maxim Suraykin in the presidential election.

On 7 February 2017, former Deputy of the Saratov Oblast Duma Vyacheslav Maltsev, announced participation in the elections.

On 8 September 2016 writer Alina Vitukhnovskaya on his page in the social network published its intention to run for President.

On 13 March 2017 the writer Ustin Chachikhin on his page in the social network published its intention to run for President.

On 17 March 2017 the President of the League of entrepreneurs of Russia Vladimir Levin, on his page in the social network has published an intention to run for President.

Potential candidates

The following individuals are included in some polls or are referred to in the media as possible candidates, but have not yet announced that they will run.