Press Release, 03.07.2014

Mikhail Petrov, YABLOKO member of the Moscow Electoral Commission said that the decision of Moscow district electoral commissions to check all 100 per cent of signatures put in favour of candidates is targeted against the candidates from the opposition intending to run in the Moscow parliamentary elections. According to the recent law, all the candidates intending to run independently or from the parties that obtained less than 3 per cent of the vote have to gather from 5,000 to 6,000 signatures of Muscovites in favour of their nomination. YABLOKO as a party surpassing the 3 per cent barrier does not have to collect signatures in favour of its candidates.

Petrov also noted that “such a decision can be fatal for some candidates from the ruling party [who do not show their party identity and intend to run masking as “independent” candidates]. Lists with signatures must be accessible to all the members of district electoral commissions. And YABLOKO’s representatives in these commissions will make all they can so that to detect all false and invalid signatures in the lists of the candidates from the ruling party who are “shy” of their nomination from the [ruling] United Russia”.

“In the situation of a mentally inadequate authoritarian regime, any obstacles in the way of registration of candidates, including the collection of signatures, represent repressive measure and will be used against independent candidates,” said YABLOKO leader Sergei Mitrokhin.

At present 74 per cent of district electoral commissions in Moscow have already announced their decision to hold a 100 per cent verification of signatures of independent candidates.