January 16 was the deadline for candidates to complete necessary registration procedures to run for the post of Russian President. So far, five candidates have successfully registered with the Central Electoral Commission. They are the leader of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, Gennady Zyuganov, the Nationalist Deputy Speaker of the State Duma and leader of the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia, Vladimir Zhirinovsky, the first Deputy Prime Minister, Dmitry Medvedev, and the two self nominees Mikhail Kasyanov, the former Prime Minister and current leader of the Popular Democratic Union, and Andrey Bogdanov, the leader of the Democratic Party of Russia. However, the official list will be announced within the next ten days after the Central Electoral Commission has finished checking on the candidates.
According to Russia’s laws, independent candidates need to gather two million signatures from supporters to get onto the official list before the January 16 deadline. If the number of fake or suspicious signatures exceeds 5 percent, these candidates will not be allowed to take part in the elections.
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