Moscow election commissions reject 27 candidates for City Duma as protests continue

As of the morning of July 16, 27 registration applications from Moscow City Duma candidates have been rejected, Interfax reported. 426 people in total began the candidacy application process, but only 290 of them submitted registration documents. 216 candidates, some nominated by a political party and some running as independents, have already completed the registration process.

District-level election commissions will consider 47 more applications in the course of July 16. By July 17, final candidate lists will be available to the media.

On July 14 and 15, mass protests took place in Moscow to demand that opposition candidates be permitted to register for the City Duma elections, which are scheduled for September 8. Local election commissions have rejected some of those candidates’ registration petitions on the basis that the percentage of signatures on them that cannot be verified is slightly higher than the allowed maximum. The candidates, meanwhile, have collected statements from their signatories verifying their identities, but their appeals have so far been unsuccessful. Several opposition candidates have called on Muscovites to protest every evening for a fair election process.