Longtime head of Moscow Election Commission steps down, citing health reasons

Valentin Gorbunov, the longtime chairman of the Moscow Election Commission, is stepping down due to health reasons, he told the news agency TASS on Tuesday. Gorbunov revealed that he is currently hospitalized, though he didn’t share any details about why.

The capital’s election commission will name a new chairperson tomorrow, on March 18. A source in the agency reportedly told Ekho Moskvy editor-in-chief Alexey Venediktov that Gobunov’s current deputy, Yuri Ermolov, will get his job.

Gorbunov has worked in the Moscow Election Commission since 1993. Last summer, during large protests against the commission for its refusal to register dozens of independent candidates, Gorbunov came under serious public criticism, including demands for his resignation and allegations that his agency falsified registration documents in a targeted campaign to bar opposition politicians from the City Duma elections.