Russian presidential election, 2018 (President Navalny)

	‹ 2012 2024 ›
Russian presidential election, 2018
11 March 2018
Turnout	72.6%
	President before election; Vladimir Putin; United Russia President-elect; Alexei Navalny; Progress Party

The 7th presidential election in Russia was held on Sunday, 11 March 2018. Most of the major parties selected new candidates to run for the presidency, and three parties that did not participate in the previous election in 2012—the centrist Progress Party, the socialist A Just Russia party, and the liberal democratic Yabloko party—were able to take part. Notably, incumbent President Vladimir Putin chose not to run despite being eligible for another term, and the ruling United Russia party instead put forward Sergei Ivanov, the former chief of the presidential administration.

The President of the Russian Federation is elected by a popular vote. Opposition figure and anti-corruption activist Alexei Navanly, running for the Progress Party, won the election with 50.7% of the vote, although polls put Ivanov with a slight lead over him. The 2018 election was the first time since 1999 that a candidate not affiliated with United Russia was president, the results were greeted with surprise in Russia and throughout the world.

Background

Political parties represented in the State Duma and/or the legislative bodies of at least one-third of the federal subjects of Russia can nominate a candidate without collecting signatures. The following parties were able to nominate candidates without collecting signatures: United Russia, Communist Party, Liberal Democratic Party, A Just Russia, Rodina and Civic Platform. Candidates from other political parties and independent candidates for registration must submit to the Central Election Commission at least 100,000 or 300,000 signatures in their support, respectively. Each federal subject should have no more than 2,500 or 7,500 signatures, respectively. The law allows a candidate exceed the signature limit by 5% by collecting up to 105,000 or 315,000 signatures, respectively. The Central Election Commission needs to verify at least 20% of signatures. If the number of invalid signatures exceeds 5%, another 10% of signatures need to be verified. If a candidate has submitted fewer signatures, a smaller margin of invalid signatures is sufficient to refuse registration.

Results

Candidates

Free access

United Russia

United Russia
Sergei Ivanov

Former chief of the Presidential Administration (2011–16)
Saint Petersburg

Liberal Democratic Party

Liberal Democratic Party
Vladimir Zhirinovsky

Deputy of the State Duma (1993–present)
Moscow

Communist Party

Communist Party
Anatoly Lokot

Former Mayor of Novosibirsk (2014–18)
Novosibirsk Oblast

A Just Russia

A Just Russia
Sergei Mironov

Deputy of the State Duma (2011–present)
Leningrad Oblast

Contested access

Progress Party

Progress Party
Alexei Navalny

Anti-corruption activist and lawyer
Moscow

Yabloko

Yabloko
Grigory Yavlinsky

Deputy of the Legislative Assembly of St. Petersburg (2011–present)
Saint Petersburg

Other parties and independents

People's Freedom Party

People's Freedom Party
Mikhail Kasyanov

Former Prime Minister of Russia (2000–2004)
Moscow

Greens

Greens
Anatoly Batashev

Environmental activist
Moscow Oblast

Independents

Opinion polling

Poll source	Fieldwork date	Sample size

			Ivanov ER	Zhirionvsky LDPR	Lokot KPRF	Mironov SR	Navalny PP	Yavlinsky YA	Kasyanov PARNAS	Batashev PZ	(Independents) various

Levada	4 March 2017	953	32%	12%	6%	5%	34%	3%	2%	1%	5%
VTSIOM	29 February 2017	1052	28%	9%	8%	3%	35%	8%	5%	1%	3%