Russian election officials reject another complaint alleging campaign violations in the mass media

Russia’s Central Election Commission has rejected a complaint that Sergey Baburin, the Russian All-People's Union’s presidential candidate, violated campaign laws by giving an interview to the radio station Ekho Moskvy. According to the commission’s spokeswoman, the radio interview doesn’t constitute “campaigning” because it occurred on an “informational” program. The commission reached this decision, even though Baburin was asked directly: “What specifically do you want to change?” Election officials also say it’s fine that Ksenia Sobchak appeared on Vladimir Pozner’s television show because it’s not strictly a news program, meaning that it doesn’t fall under the commission’s monitoring for equal TV news coverage.

What’s the law say about this?

Russian election rules describe campaigning as “any description of the possible consequences of electing or not electing a particular candidate.” Campaigning in the mass media isn’t allowed in this year’s presidential race until Saturday, February 17.

What about the constant coverage of Putin’s presidential feats?

The Central Election Commission recently ruled that it’s legal for news outlets to report on Vladimir Putin’s work as sitting president, saying this doesn’t violate requirements that all candidates receive equal access to Russia’s airwaves.

So who’s enjoyed the most TV limelight, so far?

According to the commission’s media monitoring between January 26 and February 11, Putin got the most presidential campaign coverage on Russia’s national TV networks, followed by Communist Party candidate Pavel Grudinin and LDPR head Vladimir Zhirinovsky.