BALLOT BOXING….

Registration of candidates has closed for the governor’s race in Nizhegorod. The commission registered one convicted felon (Andrei Klimentev) but rejected another (Eduard Limonov), the latter because most of the signatures on his petition were judged to be false. Aluminum magnate Oleg Deripaska, a rumored challenger, decided not to run. The local election commission denied registration to Yury Lebedev, mayor of the region’s principal city, Nizhny Novgorod, after hearing allegations that he used the “administrative pressure” of his office to amass signatures on his nominating petition. The mayor sees the poorly hidden hand of incumbent Governor Ivan Sklyarov behind the commission’s action, which he has appealed in court. With the mayor out of the race, the governor is favored for re-election.