Parliamentary elections in Russia: Registration of political parties and candidates

SUMMARY

74 parties had the formal right to nominate candidates for the election of deputies to the State Duma in 2016.
 
However, only one-third of those parties attempted to take part in the 2016 State Duma elections because the Russian electoral system combines excessive demands on the number of signatures necessary for candidate registration with extremely rigid requirements for their inspection.

As a result, out of parties without registration exemption, only the following nominated their candidates to the State Duma of the Russian Federation:
1. "Union of Labor"

2. "Native Party"

3. "Revival of Agrarian Russia" (only district candidates)

4. "Revival of the Villages" (only district candidates)

5. "Party of the Parents of the Future" (only district candidates)

6. "Will"

7. "Great Fatherland"

8. "Party of Social Reform"

However, all 14 parties with registration exemption nominated their candidates:
1. "United Russia"
2. Communist Party
3. Liberal Democratic Party of Russia (LDPR)
4. "Just Russia"
5. Russian United Democratic Party "Yabloko"
6. "Civic Platform"
7. "Civilian Power" (a possible merger with the Communist Party of Social Justice (CPSJ) and a change of name to CPSJ was announced but did not occur)
8. Communist Party "Communists of Russia"
9. People's Freedom Party ("PARNAS")
10. "Patriots of Russia"
11. "Party of Growth" (formerly called "Right Cause")
12. "Rodina"
13. "Russian Party of Pensioners for Justice"
14. Russian Ecological Party "The Greens"

As a result, the number of parties participating in the nomination stage in these elections was lower than in the State Duma elections of 1993, 1995, 1999, and 2003, but higher than in the elections of 2007 and 2011.

Moreover, after the initial candidate list validation, the number of participating parties went down, and the number will most likely further decrease after the end of the registration process.

August 3 is the deadline for political parties to submit signatures to the Central Election Commission (CEC); the Commission then has 10 days to make a decision on whether or not to register the party.

Almost all parties that do not participate in the elections thus doom themselves to liquidation in 2019-2020.

Therefore, for the majority of parties, participation in the upcoming elections to the State Duma is the most viable opportunity to save their parties.

See the full report here: PDF (EN)