Press Release, 27.07.2026

Photo: Yabloko’s letter with a marking “received” by the CEC / Photo by the Yabloko Press Service

Yabloko submitted a complaint to the Central Electoral Commission of Russia (CEC) against the decision by the St. Petersburg Electoral Commission to refuse registration of the party’s list of candidates for the election of deputies to the St. Petersburg Legislative Assembly.

The complaint presents evidence that all documents required for registration had been submitted to the St. Petersburg Electoral Commission in good time.

According to the party, the St. Petersburg Electoral Commission’s decision is unlawful, violates citizens’ electoral rights as guaranteed by Article 32 of the Constitution of Russia, was adopted in gross violation of federal electoral legislation, and contradicts the legal positions of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation.

Yabloko is asking the CEC to overturn the decision of the St. Petersburg Electoral Commission and register the list of candidates.

Yabloko is represented by two deputies in the current 7th convocation (2021–2026) of the St. Petersburg Legislative Assembly. In the 2021 election, the party won more than 9% of the vote, despite administrative pressure, a campaign involving near identical “doppelgängers” of the party list’s leading candidate Boris Vishnevsky, and mass falsifications on polling day.

In 2026, Yabloko is taking part in elections to the legislative assemblies of eight Russian regions: St. Petersburg, the Republic of Karelia, and the Pskov, Sverdlovsk, Novgorod, Kaliningrad, Leningrad and Moscow regions. The party has also nominated candidates in single-mandate constituencies in the Lipetsk region and the Altai territory.