Anti-war Russian presidential candidate collects 150K signatures supporting campaign

The anti-war candidate for Russia's presidency has successfully gathered tens of thousands of signatures, more than necessary to qualify for the upcoming election.

Civic Initiative Party candidate Boris Nadezhdin reports 158,000 signatures in support of his campaign — 58,000 more than the 100,000 signatures needed to qualify, according to reports from Russian outlets.

Nadezhdin announced the milestone on Tuesday, stating that the massive amount of extra signatures is meant to ensure against any attempts to find logistical issues with his candidacy.

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The campaign claims the 158,000 figure does not include signatures collected from Russian voters overseas. Signatures must be submitted for review by Jan. 31.

Nadezhdin is enjoying a spike in relevance due to his popular anti-war messaging and his promise to end the invasion of Ukraine if elected. 

While Nadezhdin is taking the election seriously, the Kremlin remains unconcerned.

President Vladimir Putin submitted his nomination papers to the Central Election Commission last month for the March 17 election, which he is widely expected to win. The former intelligence officer continues to hold overwhelming political power in Russia's government and institutions.

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Liberal Democratic Party candidate Leonid Slutsky and New People Party candidate Vladislav Davankov were approved for the March election by officials earlier this month. 

Danankov currently serves as the deputy speaker for the state Duma — Russia's lower legislative chamber. Slutsky is the head of the state Duma's foreign affairs committee.

The Russian Communist Party has registered candidate Nikolai Kharitonov to stand in the election.

While ostensibly rivals for the nation's top executive position, communist Nikolai Kharitonov, nationalist Slutsky and liberal-leaning Davankov are widely seen as mere token opposition by analysts.

Not all individuals seeking to run against Putin have been given clearance to stand for election.

Yekaterina Duntsova — an independent politician who wanted to run on a platform to end the war with Ukraine — had her candidacy application unanimously rejected by the country’s electoral commission on Saturday, which cited "numerous violations" in the papers she had submitted.