Election campaign cycle begins in Russia

As we previously reported, Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed an official decree calling for elections in the lower house of Russian parliament to be held on Sept. 18.

The document will be officially published within the next five days, at which point the campaign cycle will begin. This will be the first Russian legislative election since December 2011, The Moscow Times reports.

According to Russian law, political parties have 30 days after the president calls for elections to submit their lists of candidates.

The State Duma elections will see 225 politicians elected via party lists and another 225 people elected in single-member constituencies.

Elections to the legislative assemblies in 39 districts of Russia will be held on the same day, as will elections for governors and republic heads in a further seven regions.