Moscow, December 27 (RHC)-- Vladimir Putin has submitted his application for registration as an independent candidate in the 2018 Russian presidential election.

The Central Elections Commission accepted the documents, and now has three days to check them and make a final decision on Putin’s registration as a candidate.

On Tuesday over 600 Russian politicians, activists and celebrities founded an initiative group backing Putin’s independent candidacy for a new term, which they voted to endorse.

The group was formed with the help of the parliamentary majority party United Russia, the centrist public movement All-Russian Popular Front and the Russian Public Chamber.

The group also includes top representatives from several political parties that have decided to back Putin’s candidacy, such as the center-left parliamentary opposition party Fair Russia, the Green Party and the nationalist party Motherland.

Putin announced his intention to seek another presidential term in 2018 on December 6, and on December 14 he said that he would run as an independent with the support of various political parties and ordinary citizens.

This means that, if accepted as a candidate, he will have to collect and present to the Central Elections Commission signatures of 300,000 of his supporters.

A public opinion poll conducted in early December, shortly after Putin announced his intention to run, revealed that 67 percent of Russians intended to vote for him.