Moscow Legislature Election Campaign Over
RIA Novosti
December 3, 2005
by MIKHAIL TURGIYEV

MOSCOW, December 3 -- In line with the election laws, as of 12 a.m. December 3, all parties and candidates running in the Moscow City Duma election due Dec. 4 ended their election campaign.

"The campaigning period ends at 12 a.m. one day prior to election day," the law says.

Any campaigning on TV, radio and in print media is prohibited after that point, but street ads will remain in their places.

Nine political parties, including pro-presidential United Russia, the Communists, the Liberal-Democrats, Yabloko and the Union of Right Forces will vie for 20 seats, and 90 individually elected candidates will vie for 15 seats.

According to the Moscow City Election Commission, 329 candidates from parties were registered and will run in the election. The parties will have to clear the 10% barrier to make it into the city legislature.

The Russian Supreme Court Friday upheld the Moscow City Court ruling to ban the Rodina (Motherland) party from running after the Moscow City Court granted a lawsuit filed by the ultra-nationalist Liberal Democratic Party of Russia (LDPR), which claimed that a TV campaign spot for Rodina incited inter-ethnic tension.

A 20% turnout is required to make the election valid.

This time, the voters will not be able to vote "against all" candidates.

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