Krasnodar Krai Head of Administration elections
Elections of governors in Krasnodar Krai.
The first election for governor of Krasnodar took place in 1996 as part of the series of Russian regional elections held in 1996–1997. For many Russian Oblasts and Krais, including Krasnodar Krai, these were the first elections of governors.
Election of 1996
First attempt
27 October 1996
Nikolai Yegorov and Nikolai Kondratenko were the two main candidates. Yegorov represented Yeltsin’s administration and Kondratenko ran with the support of parties opposed to Yeltsin. The result was:
Electoral activity - 43.3%
Distribution of ballots:
| Name | Percentage |
|---|---|
| Nikolai Kondratenko | 57.14% |
| Nikolai Yegorov | 24.77% |
| Viktor Krokhmal | 7.79% |
| Boris Vavilov | 2.3% |
| Yevgeny Kharitonov | 2% |
| Vasiliy Dyakonov | 1.1% |
Mikhail Kurkov from Sochi was a candidate but withdrew in Kondratenko’s favour. Alexander Tkachyov from Vyselki also ran, but withdrew in Yegorov’s favour. The election failed because the electoral laws of Krasnodar Krai required participation of at least 50% of the citizens eligible to vote. On the next day the local parliament tried to reduce the threshold to 25% in order to finalize the election. It looked strange to change the law post facto, but although the results were not official it seemed to be legal. But Yegorov vetoed the reduction, and the parliament could pass the veto only some time later, when the first vote was officially declared to have failed.
Second attempt
The second vote was set for 22 December 1996. It was obvious that Kondratenko would run again, but Yegorov ran against him even though he seemed to have no chance. The results bore that out: his loss was even worse than in October.
22 December 1996
Citizens eligible to vote - 3,795,309
Ballots taken - 1,845,768 (48.63% activity)
Ballots found in boxes - 1,842,259
Valid ballots - 1,822,520
| Candidate | Ballots for | Percentage |
|---|---|---|
| Nikolai Kondratenko | 1,510,652 | 82.00% |
| Viktor Krokhmal | 132,291 | 7.18% |
| Nikolai Yegorov | 88,969 | 4.83% |
| Boris Vavilov | 26,224 | 1.42% |
| Vasiliy Dyakonov | 20,732 | 1.13% |
| Sergei Suslov | 5,827 | 0.32% |
| Vladimir Pozdnyakov | 2,513 | 0.14% |
| Against all [none of the above] | 35,312 | 1.92% |
Invalid ballots 19,739 1.07% [1]
Although voter participation increased, it did not reach the old threshold. But as the threshold voting rate had been reduced to 25%, the second election was declared valid.
Election of 2000
Although very popular in Krasnodar Krai, Kondratenko refused to participate in the new race. His friends, colleagues, and many citizens tried to make him change his decision, but Kondratenko kept his intention to retire from governorship. On 3 December 2000 Alexander Tkachyov was elected the new governor. Running with Kondratenko's support and in the absence of serious rivals, he won easily.
Activity - 46.73%
| Name | Ballots for | Percentage |
|---|---|---|
| Alexander Tkachyov | 1,467,305 | 81.78% |
| Igor Kramarenko | 93,758 | 5.23% |
| Martiros Oganesyan | 73,302 | 4.09% |
| Against all | 127,133 | 7.09%[2] |
Election of 2004
The election should have taken place in December 2004, but Tkachyov and the local parliament scheduled it for 14 March 2004, the day of the Presidential election. The official reason was to save money, but really Tkachyov wanted to piggyback on Vladimir Putin’s popularity. The result was excellent for Tkachyov: neither he nor Kondratenko had ever received so many votes.
Participation - 2,376,396 (63.08% activity)
Invalid ballots - 27,488 (1.16%)
| Name | Ballots for | Percentage |
|---|---|---|
| Alexander Tkachyov | 1,995,681 | 83.98% |
| Alexander Bondarenko | 79,854 | 3.36% |
| Anatoly Pahomov | 47,862 | 2.01% |
| Sergei Kirichenko | 44,442 | 1.87% |
| Against all | 181,069 | 7.62%[3] |
This was the last election of Kuban governor, and soon electoral system was removed by another one, when the presidents presents a candidate for governor and local legislature accepts the candidate or rejects him (her).