Russia's Central Election Commission on Friday announced that "errors" had been found in election paperwork filed by Boris Nadezhdin.

Nadezhdin, a staunch critic of President Vladimir Putin's nearly two-year war in Ukraine, submitted more than 100,000 signatures in support of his candidacy for Russia's March presidential election this week.

Nikolai Bulayev, deputy head of the Central Election Commission, said Friday, "When we see dozens of people who are no longer on this Earth but have given their signatures — that raises the question of the honesty and ethical standards of the person collecting those signatures." 

Bulayev suggested Nadezhdin himself may have engaged in forgery.

The would-be candidate rebuffed Bulayev's accusations by name-checking the title of a famous novel by nineteenth-century Russian author Nikolai Gogol, saying there were no "Dead Souls" on his lists.

"If someone sees dead souls in my signature lists, well, friends, those questions should not be addressed to me," said Nadezhdin, "It's more for the church or exorcists."

Nadezhdin and communist candidate Sergey Malinkovich have been summoned to appear before the Commission on Monday, when officials will reportedly show them the, "results of the checking procedure."

Boris Nadezhdin has previously said he would challenge the Commission's decision in court if he is barred from running.

No one challenges Putin

Vladimir Putin has led Russia since 1999 as either prime minister or president. 

Political observers in Russia and elsewhere say they assume the Central Election Commission will use any means necessary to keep candidates from challenging Putin, who had the Russian Constitution rewritten in 2020 to make it possible for him to run for two more consecutive terms in office.

Putin's grip on Russia over the last two decades has allowed him to use the levers of power to jail and disqualify any opponent he sees as a threat.

The invasion of Ukraine — which has never been called a war in Russia but rather a "special military operation" — has become a sore spot for Putin domestically and by disqualifying Nadezhdin, the president may be able to conduct his electoral campaign without having to defend his decision to invade Ukraine and plunge Russia into a war with no end in sight.

js/nm (AFP, dpa)