Russia's Central Electoral Commission on Saturday, December 23, rejected an application by a candidate calling for peace to stand in next year's presidential elections. The commission cited "mistakes in documents" submitted by Yekaterina Duntsova, a former journalist and city councilor campaigning "for peace and democratic processes," Russian television reported.
The commission's chief, Ella Pamfilova, said the members unanimously rejected Duntsova's bid to stand in polls that President Vladimir Putin is expected to win comfortably. The commission said Duntsova could not go on to the next stage of gathering thousands of supporters' signatures. Pamfilova told her: "You are a young woman, you have everything ahead of you."
Duntsova, 40, had filed documents to stand in the March race as an independent candidate. Pamfilova said Saturday that 29 people have filed to run for the presidency.
Moscow has for years sidelined opposition figures from elections and political life, a clampdown that accelerated after the Kremlin ordered Russian troops into Ukraine in 2022.