Russia's Central Election Commission on Saturday rejected a petition by a candidate for the March 2024 presidential election calling for peace, AFP reported.
The commission refers to "errors in the documents" presented by Yekaterina Duntsova, a former journalist and city councillor. She is leading a campaign "for peace and democratic processes," Russian television reported
Commission head Ella Pamfilova said members unanimously rejected Duntsova's bid to run in the election, which President Vladimir Putin is expected to win by a landslide.
The commission said Duntsova could not proceed to the next stage of collecting thousands of signatures of supporters. Pamfilova told her: "You are a young woman, everything is ahead of you."
Duntsova, 40, filed to run in March as an independent candidate. Pamfilova said on Saturday that 29 people had applied for the presidency. For years, Moscow removed opposition figures from elections and political life. These repressions accelerated after the invasion of Russian troops into Ukraine. /BGNES
