OFFICIAL: President Vladimir Putin to run in 2018 Presidential Elections
The first round of voting will take place on 18 March, 2018.
Russia’s President Vladimir Putin was last elected President in 2012 with 63.6% of the popular vote. Today, he announced that he will run in next year’s elections which are scheduled for March of 2018.
According to Russian law, if no candidate receives more than 50% of the total popular vote in the first round of the elections, a second round will be held between the two most popular candidates.
Putin will contest the election against Gennady Zyuganov of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation (KPRF) and Vladimir Zhirinovsky of the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia (LDPR). Other lesser known candidates are expected to have their candidacies officiated at a later date after collecting the required number of signatures.
Vladimir Putin’s popularity as President makes him an early favourite to win next year’s elections.