Pro-Putin campaign amasses 95 cardboard boxes filled with petitions backing his presidential run

By The Associated Press

Vladimir Putin’s campaign has presented scores of boxes filled with signed petitions supporting his run in Russia’s March presidential election, which he’s almost certain to win. Putin is closely tied to the dominant United Russia party but is running as an independent candidate in this election. Russia’s election law requires independent candidates to offer at least 300,000 signatures from 40 regions of the country to get on the ballot. Russian news reports said Putin’s campaign staff brought in 95 boxes filled with signed petitions to the Central Elections Commission. The commission is to finalize the list of candidates by Feb. 10. The election will be held on March 17.