Press Release, 7 August 2026

Photo: Candidates and party members of Yabloko in St. Petersburg / Photo by the St. Petersburg regional branch of Yabloko

The St. Petersburg City Court has dismissed Yabloko’s administrative claim challenging the decision of the city electoral commission, which had refused to register the party’s list of candidates for the Legislative Assembly elections.

In court, the party’s representative, Deputy Chair of the St. Petersburg branch and lawyer Alexander Kobrinsky, noted that on 11 July the city electoral commission had certified Yabloko’s list of candidates for the St. Petersburg Legislative Assembly elections and had registered financial representatives. On 15 July, Yabloko had submitted all documents for registration on time, including its first financial report. On 18 July, the deadline for candidate nomination expired, and on 20 July the city electoral commission sent the party a notice alleging certain deficiencies — although, in the view of the St. Petersburg Electoral Commission, these could only have been corrected by 18 July. Despite the fact that the deficiencies cited by the commission were purely technical and could lawfully have been rectified, the St. Petersburg Electoral Commission had deliberately delayed sending the notice and had not allowed Yabloko any opportunity to act. Other electoral associations, meanwhile, had been permitted to make corrections.

“At the previous elections to the St. Petersburg Legislative Assembly in 2021, 125,000 people voted for Yabloko, and they are now being proposed to be deprived of representation in the city parliament on entirely contrived grounds. I believe it is necessary to recall the principle, repeatedly declared by the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation, that a refusal to register or a cancellation of registration is impermissible on purely formal grounds,” Kobrinsky said during closing arguments.

Despite this, the court refused to declare the decisions of the St. Petersburg Electoral Commission and the Central Electoral Commission unlawful, effectively siding with the electoral commissions, which have deprived hundreds of thousands of St. Petersburg residents of the opportunity to vote for the Yabloko’s list.

During the hearing, Yabloko’s motions were ignored. In particular, the party was not given a proper opportunity to review the position of the city electoral commission, which was presented only directly at the hearing. Rather than adjourning the case, the court allowed just 40 minutes for review, the preparation of objections and a response.

“Unfortunately, the fulfilment of a political order to bar our list from the elections continues. This has nothing to do with the law. We will appeal all unlawful decisions and fight for St. Petersburg, for the right to take part in the elections to the city parliament. The hundreds of thousands of St. Petersburg residents who share Yabloko’s ideas must have their own voice in the Legislative Assembly!” said Dmitry Anisimov, the lead candidate of the Yabloko list.

The case was heard by the same judge of the St. Petersburg City Court who had earlier ruled to designate as “extremist material” Boris Vishnevsky’s book The Chronicles of Reborn Arkanar, devoted to the political life of contemporary Russia.

Yabloko disagrees with the court’s decision and intends to appeal it before the appellate court. Yabloko will continue to press for the restoration of its electoral rights and the right of the residents of St. Petersburg to a free choice.