The central elections commission said it could not accept Grigory Yavlinsky's candidacy because it found nearly a quarter of the registration signatures were either photocopies or forgeries.

"I am sad to announce that we will not able to register Yavlinsky as a candidate," election commission member Sergei Danilenko said at a special hearing.

Russia requires all presidential hopefuls whose parties did not make it into parliament to gather two million signatures in order to get on the ballot. That number is twice what was required before then-president Vladimir Putin changed the rules in 2004, tightening his grip on power. In 2007 he shortened the time candidates could rally their support from three months to one.