[2] The date was set by the parliament after the 2011 election was annulled by the Supreme Court after Alla Dzhioyeva was disqualified following allegations of electoral violations by Anatoly Bibilov.

[2] A deal was reached on 9 December 2011 under which the incumbent Kokoity stepped down at the end of his mandate and was replaced by Prime Minister Vadim Brovtsev as acting president.

[6] Another candidate from 2011, Georgiy Kabisov, attempted to register twice, but both times was rejected by the central election commission.

[8] Tibilov and Sanakoyev disagreed with former President Eduard Kokoity who said that South Ossetia would eventually be a part of Russia.

"[2] A week before the election, an opinion poll by the IR media centre suggested Medoyev or Tibilov would win.