Sergey Brilyov:
What is also important is that Putin's recent speeches have been both as the incumbent President and as a future presidential candidate. This time he's a self-nominee. But this midnight was also the deadline for the party nominees to submit their papers to run for the presidency. This time the list of those claiming Putin's place is unprecedentedly long.
Who are they? We discussed it with Ella Pamfilova, the head of the Central Electoral Commission, after the CEC meeting. Russia 24 features an extended version of the interview.
- Hello, Ella Alexandrovna.
- Hello.
- Wow, it's so beautiful.
- It is.
- And — most importantly — it's silent.
- It's just a short break.
- You're going to set a new record. I remember that 46 self-nominees were declared, and about 20 party nominees, right?
- It's 24. In total, there were 70 applicants. Some parties appear to be still holding congresses, and by midnight, they should have already submitted the documents. That will be it.
- So, you're quite meticulous here, practically using a magnifying glass. So, if our audience does the same, as in, use a magnifying glass, they can see that it's January 12, 13:55. The deadline for party nominees to submit the papers is midnight.
- Right.
- Obviously, the so-called front-runners are in the spotlight, but now that the deadline is looming, I think we should pay tribute to those who decided to enter the race. Although, this might be a bit painful. I'll explain why.
For example, you refused to register the representatives of three political parties. They all have very nice names: Women's Dialogue, the Small Business Party of Russia, and the People Against Corruption. They've been banned from the election, as I see it, largely due to violations that occurred at the congresses. Why didn’t the representatives of the Central Election Commission, who attended those congresses, advise how to hold them correctly?
- We have very detailed instructions and recommendations which were posted in advance on the site. We conducted preliminary training for those who would suddenly decide to run. The Central Election Commission did everything possible to ensure that those who wanted to run could fill out the documents correctly. Moreover, we welcomed them here as cordially as possible.
You know, there are just reversible and irreversible things. If it's about something reversible, we allow them to file the paperwork later and make some changes. However, some things we can't be flexible with. The potential candidate has to show up with some form of ID in hand. The candidate must inform us on time about their intention to hold a congress. If a person has not signed the application in person, if the notification is late, there's not much we can do.
- Correct me if I'm wrong, but I'd like to enumerate the parties whose nominees have been registered by the CEC. LDPR — Zhirinovsky, the Honest Party — Khudyakov, Yabloko — Yavlinsky, the Party of Growth — Titov, the Green Alliance — Agurbash, the Russian National Alliance—Baburin, the Monarchist Party — Bakov, CPRF — Grudinin (we've already mentioned him), Civil Initiative — Sobchak, the Good Deeds Party — Gordon, Party of Social Reforms — Polishchuk, Social Security Party — Kozlov, the Communists of Russia — Suraykin, ROT Front — Lisitsyna.
Have I forgotten anyone?
- No, you haven't. Today, more people might be added to the list. Yesterday, congresses were held. We will make a decision on Monday. Out of these 14, neither Zhirinovsky nor Grudinin needs to collect signatures. Because they are parliamentary parties. But the remaining 12 are collecting signatures. They must collect 100,000 each as they are party nominees.
- This is the next stage, and I would like to return to the penultimate one — the self-nominees. They have to collect 300,000 signatures.
- Yes.
- There were 46, but only 15 reached you, as far as I know.
- Right.
- I enjoyed the story of a man who showed up at 10:22 pm to get the stars aligned.
- He was several minutes late, however, we generously wrote what he wanted, I mean, 10:22 pm.
- Did he end up as a presidential candidate?
- Unfortunately, he did not, as there were quite a lot of procedural inaccuracies.
- The "virtual USSR" president also came to you as well as the Emperor of Russia, right?
- Yes, "of all Russia".
- I met a stranger at the entrance. Of course, he has every right to wear such clothes, though it's quite awkward for a Moscow winter. It was a muscular man, he was wearing a skirt so that everyone could see all his tattoos. He wanted to be self-nominated, but he's certainly late.
- Yeah, he decided to show off a bit, I guess. Anyway, the Central Election Commission is a democratic structure, and those who want to be a candidate are welcome here. It happens. We get all kinds of people.
- Maybe, but still. The list of those you refused is quite impressive: Valovik, Gamzatova, Kuznetsov, Lee, Lurie, Navalny, Polonsky, Prisyagin, Pugachev, Solpak, Tcherepnin, and Yatsun. They all were refused, 12 out of 15.
- Isn't the percentage too big? It's not about the percentage, most of them did not even have 500 supporters. Like, they gathered 20, maybe 32 people. They didn't meet the requirements, unfortunately.
- I'll say something that you won't dare to say for ethical reasons. They were self-promoting.
- Probably yes. The owner of some strip clubs also wished to run, although his paperwork was a mess. Some had serious intentions, they tried to do everything correctly. But, unfortunately, seemingly, their ambitions overshadowed their potential and capabilities. Therefore, I recommended that they first go to municipal elections to try their hand in there, to see the people's reaction. But first one needs to read the law. Two candidates—Lurie and Navalny were refused because of their criminal records. The rest didn't fill out the documents correctly.
Do you know what we do? When we receive documents from an applicant, we immediately send a request to 12 departments, actually, we send 14 requests, including to the Ministry of Internal Affairs to do a criminal background check and to check whether the candidate is a foreign citizen. 14 requirements must be met. It is followed by a verification process, which checks other information, which is taken into consideration further.
- Does it concern both self- and party nominees?
- Yes, it concerns any candidate. For example, when Zhirinovsky came, we immediately sent the requests. So, even a well-known deputy who has already passed through these procedures a thousand times, but still, we respect the procedure.
- So, the self-nominees will be Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin and Vladimir Viktorovich Mikhailov.
- Yes.
- Are you checking them now?
- They are in the process of collecting signatures. By 6 pm on January 31st, 12 party nominees and two self-nominees must submit signatures.
- Among those who aren't shortlisted, is there anyone who calls for a boycott of the election? What would you tell them, if anything?
- There are some, of course. The thing is, yesterday they were against a boycott, today they back it. Positions change. One candidate is calling for a boycott while making threats. He says that millions of people will take to the streets if he's not registered. Holding a pen to our neck, they demand that they're registered at once. Another one says that if the election is honest, then he is obviously the winner. And if he is not a winner, then the elections are fraudulent.
There's a lot of various technology out there, but as far as what we do, whether we like it or not, we strictly follow the law. Naturally, many do not like that fact. One of the self-nominees took the floor, as we give the floor to everyone before we put it to a vote. He said "I am a renowned and accomplished person. How is it possible that you can't register me?" So, we asked him a logical question: Yes, good, you're quite accomplished, but do you expect us to break the law? You gathered 30 people out of 500, should I make up the rest?
- OK, I see, the Central Election Commission is not selective.
- Of course not.
- Nevertheless, do you think that the list of presidential candidates will fit on one page of the ballot?
- I have no idea. Even our ballot processing systems (KOIBs) are designed for a long double sheet.
- So, it will be possible to insert two pages into it?
- Right. Now 14 people are collecting signatures, and 2 more are on the ballot. If all of them succeed, the maximum number of candidates on the ballot is 16. But given that tonight before midnight the representatives of other parties will come, there might be even more names on the ballot. Well, from 2 to 20.
- So, we'll be waiting for the next stage. Thank you.
- Thank you.
The list of candidates might be even longer. Marina Kopyonkina applied to the CEC before midnight. She was nominated by the Home Party.
How will the CEC check the signatures of self- and party nominees? The CEC showed us a special room for handwriting experts. They will use electronic magnifiers bought specifically for them. They will help to examine a signature sheet to rule out forgeries. In case of controversy, a magnified image will be examined by the professionals, nominees, and their authorized representatives.
