Russian presidential hopeful Boris Nadezhdin gathers over 100,000 signatures in support of candidacy, says many ‘imperfect’ and could be challenged

Russian presidential hopeful Boris Nadezhdin has gathered 101,607 signatures in support of his candidacy, as reported on his website.

The website states that the signatures were collected in 75 Russian regions but does not specify their distribution. To qualify for nomination, candidates must submit 2,500 signatures from 40 different regions to Russia’s Central Election Commission.

A message on Nadezhdin’s Telegram channel reads: “We’ve already collected 101,000 signatures. These signatures are not perfect! We’ll need to submit 105,000 flawless signatures to the Central Election Commission. Ones that can’t be challenged.”

The Civic Initiative Party nominated Boris Nadezhdin to run in Russia’s upcoming presidential election. He announced his candidacy at the end of 2023.

The Central Election Commission allowed Nadezhdin to start collecting signatures on December 28. In the first three weeks, his supporters managed to gather 25,000 signatures. After well-known opposition politicians endorsed him, people began lining up outside his campaign offices to add their signatures. Another 75,000 signatures were collected in just five days.