Kremlin lauds popular support for Putin

Russian President Vladimir Putin enjoys a high level of public support, so it’s no wonder that his re-election campaign has managed to collect over 2.5 million signatures supporting his run, Kremlin Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov told journalists on Wednesday.

Putin is seeking another term in office as an independent candidate. As such, his team is required by law to collect a certain number of signatures from voters throughout the country before his candidacy is considered eligible. The minimum is 300,000 signatures, with no more than 7,500 counted from each Russian region or the rest of the world combined, although more can be collected for the sake of redundancy.

The Putin campaign announced earlier in the day that they had surpassed the benchmark of 2.5 million signatures. Peskov, who speaks on behalf of the Russian president, said he could not comment on the news in his official capacity, but as an eligible voter he believed that the number could be an order of magnitude higher, if the campaign staff deemed it necessary.

“The level of support for the president … is hard to overestimate,” he stated.

The election is scheduled for March, with Putin widely considered to be the frontrunner. The Central Election Commission has so far approved three candidates, with more names expected to be added to the list later on Wednesday. Approval requires verification of the signatures by officials, which has yet to be done in Putin’s case.

Russian law allows political parties with significant clout, as reflected in them having representatives in the parliament, to field presidential candidates without submitting voters’ signatures as proof of public support.