Challenger to President Vladimir Putin, former TV journalist Yekaterina Duntsova, was disqualified on Saturday from running in Russia‘s next presidential election.
The Central Election Commission voted unanimously to reject Duntsova’s candidacy, citing “numerous violations” in her documentation submitted to secure her place on the ballot.
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“With this political decision, we are deprived of the opportunity to have our own representative and express views that differ from the official aggressive discourse,” the rejected candidate said on Telegram.
Duntsova, 40, based her campaign primarily on ending hostilities in Ukraine and strengthening democratic reforms.
The Kremlin projects that Putin will win the election because he has gained sincere support across the country, with opinion poll ratings topping 80%. His detractors say that there will be no meaningful alternative on the ballot this spring.
If the CEC had accepted her documentation, the journalist-turned-Moscow politician would have needed to collect 300,000 voter signatures from at least 40 regions of Russia to appear on the ballot.
The primary objection of the CEC appears to be typos and clerical errors that violate the legal standards of Russian election procedure.
Duntsova plans to challenge the decision in the Russian Supreme Court. The aspiring leader has also appealed to liberal politician Grigory Yavlinsky to enable her to run under the Yabloko party ticket, which would allow her to refile paperwork.
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“I want us all to believe that we will be able to take another chance. Don’t lose faith, don’t lose hope,” she said.
The 2024 Russian presidential election will be held from Friday, March 15, to Sunday, March 17.
