Page "Russian presidential election, 2004" Paragraph 10

According to report by the ad hoc Committee by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, " The Presidential Election Law and the Basic Guarantees of Electoral Rights Law provided the legal framework for the presidential elections, laying down conditions for the transparency in the organisation and conduct of the election.

" Criticizing the election campaign, the Committee claimed as " unreasonable hurdle " the requirement to collect 2 million signatures for submission to the CEC in support of persons seeking registration as candidates.

Another concern was, " The Russian Constitution stipulates that in a presidential election, if the turn-out is less than 50 %, a new round has to be held, with candidates registering anew.

This clause raised concerns of authorities on voters turnout and a massive campaign encouraging people to participate in elections had been launched by the CEC and local authorities.

In some regions, local authorities overused their power to force people to take part in the elections.

" The election campaign in general was " low-key and all but invisible, which could be explained by the predictability of the results of the election.

" Glazyev's manager reported the use of administrative resources by preventing Glazyev's campaigning in the regions ; Khakamada claimed that " local authorities were instructed to hamper her meetings with voters ".