Deputies who were refused registration by the regional election commmission to take part in elections to the Lermontov City Council in the Stavropol region in southern Russia went on hunger strike on Tuesday.
In a message prepared by the protesters, they said the local election commission illegally refused to register more than 20 candidates of the City Council, the Newsru.com website reported. The message has been sent to the Russian president, prime minister, the leadership of the Investigative Committee and the Prosecutor General's Office, as well as the Central Election Commission.
Former deputy of the city council Valery Belousov told the Lenta.ru website that 14 candidates, representing all four parliamentary parties and their supporters, were taking part in the protest in the city administration building.
In a twitter update, the League of voters, a group of liberal public figures that came together to try to ensure fair elections on March 4, reported that law enforcement authorities in the city were ordered to expel the hunger strikers from the city council building but refused to do so.
