Incumbent President Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj, first elected in 2009 and re-elected in 2013, was constitutionally barred from running for a third term.

[2][3][4] The third-placed candidate Sainkhuugiin Ganbaatar refused to recognise the results after he missed out on the second round due to finishing 1,849 behind Enkhbold, claiming that an additional 35,000 votes had been added to the total and there had been fraud.

However, the Mongolian Election Commission refused to allow Enkhbayar to run as a candidate as he has an outstanding criminal record and has not spent the last five years in the country, having lived abroad from August 2013 until October 2014.

The lack of clear rule was interpreted by the General Commission for Elections (GCE) as an interdiction on political campaign.

Sainkhüügiin Ganbaatar, who narrowly missed the second round, began a campaign calling to cast a blank vote, so as to have none of the remaining candidate reach the 50% threshold needed, leading to a new election.