In accordance with applicable legislation, political parties represented in the State Duma [of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation] and legislative and representative bodies of state power at various levels are exempted from collecting voter signatures during elections at the corresponding level.
The draft law stipulates that all political parties are exempted from collecting voter signatures during any elections, except for presidential elections.
For presidential elections, the current requirement applicable to political parties not represented in the State Duma or in at least one third of all legislative (representative) bodies of state power in Russia’s federal constituent entities, requests them to collect voter signatures. However, the number of such signatures has been reduced significantly.
The law also reduces the number of signatures to be collected by self-nominated candidates.