Russia’s Supreme Court denies Yekaterina Duntsova’s appeal after election commission rejects her application to run for president

Russia’s Supreme Court has rejected Yekaterina Duntsova’s appeal of the Russian Central Election Commission’s refusal to register her voters’ committee, which supported her nomination as a presidential candidate, report Telegram channels Sota and Ostorozhno, Novosti.

Commenting on the court’s decision, Duntsova stated that she and her supporters intend to create a political party. “The party I propose creating isn’t the party of Yekaterina Duntsova. It will be a party for everyone who stands for peace, freedom, and democracy,” she wrote on her Telegram channel.

On December 23, Russia’s Central Election Commission refused to register journalist Yekaterina Duntsova’s voters’ committee, saying that 20 percent of the statements made by members of the committee contained errors and that one signature resembled a cat. The next day, Duntsova reported that she’d received a written statement from the Central Election Commission about the refusal; however, the document mentioned none of the issues previously raised by the commission.

Duntsova appealed the commission's decision to the Supreme Court and also called on the Yabloko party to nominate her as a presidential candidate. In response, the party said they do not nominate “random citizens about whom nothing is known” for elections.