Record Disqualification: How the Nomination and Registration Stage Unfolded for Presidential Elections

The movement for voters' rights, "Golos", has prepared an analytical report on the disqualification of candidates in the 2024 Russian presidential elections, which set a record compared to 2012 and 2018 — 64% against 50% and 53%, respectively. Here are the main findings of our report

To register as a candidate, self-nominated individuals and representatives of non-parliamentary parties need to collect signatures from voters. This procedure in 2024 occurred under conditions of total inequality. As a result, the ballot will feature the incumbent president, for whom the entire administrative machine collected signatures, and three representatives of parties represented in parliament — those who did not need to collect signatures. This repeats the anti-record of 2008 when there were only four candidates. In all other cases, there were more candidates.

The decisive moment for deciding on the registration of candidates based on the submitted signatures is the graphological examination. The procedure it undergoes is marked with a secrecy stamp, making it impossible to verify and challenge. This practically renders the passage of this stage by an undesirable candidate nearly impossible.

Significant inequality in media coverage of candidates also played a crucial role. In late January, the gap in the volume of airtime (in minutes) allocated by federal TV channels to Vladimir Putin and Boris Nadezhdin reached 3,362 (!) times.

The 2024 presidential elections underscored the crisis in the party system: in the pre-election race for the country's top post, only representatives of three parties (out of 25 existing) remained. Moreover, two parliamentary parties — "United Russia" ("Yedinaya Rossiya") and "A Just Russia" ("Spravedlivaya Rossiya") — did not nominate their candidates.

If you want to get the full version of the report, contact us: golos@golos.org