Putin declared his intention to seek re-election in December 2023. He would become Russia’s president for the fifth time if re-elected. Putin may be able to remain in office until 2036 if constitutional amendments made before the conflict in Ukraine are accepted.
Vote stuffing, forced voting, and election manipulation are long-standing problems in Russia’s elections. Opposition politicians like Alexei Navalny, who has been vocal in his criticism of Putin, regularly face incarceration or exile while running for president.
Leonid Slutsky, the head of the State Duma’s Foreign Affairs Committee and a member of the Liberal Democratic Party, is one of the presidential contenders in Russia’s upcoming election. In addition, Vladislav Davankov of the New People’s Party and Communist Party member Nikolay Kharitonov are running. Another candidate is the politician Andrei Bogdanov, a presidential candidate in 2008.
Boris Nadezhdin—the sole contender who vehemently rejects Putin and the conflict in Ukraine—and State Duma member Baburin are in the race.
Only four candidates—Kharitonov, Slutsky, Davankov, and Baburin—have been authorized to be on the ballot thus far.
Many hopefuls have chosen not to address how they would do in the approaching election. A reporter asked Davankov about his election prospects, and Davankov laughed and said, It all depends on how you define victory.
After laughing off the prospect of becoming president this year, Bogdanov doubted any such possibility. He said with conviction that he couldn’t be elected in response to a reporter’s inquiry on his future chances.
Most of the presidential contenders in Russia’s 2024 election have not given voters the information they need to sign their support petitions, according to Agentstvo. According to the investigative site’s findings, Nadezhdin is the only candidate whose campaign website features a detailed list of criteria for signature gathering.
According to a study conducted by Tatiana Stanovaya, founder and CEO of R.Politik, a political analysis business for the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, the election campaign in Russia is entirely controlled by the Kremlin and lacks any real opposition.
