[1] Chairman of the Moscow Oblast Court of Arbitration Alexander Yevstifeyev was appointed Head of Mari El in April 2017, replacing controversial 4-term incumbent Leonid Markelov.

[5] Aleksander Yevstifeyev allegedly took a leave of absence and asked for his resignation in February 2022 due to his lack of interest leading the region for another 5 years.

[8] On 10 May Aleksandr Yevtifeyev resigned and President Vladimir Putin appointed Prime Minister of Kalmykia Yury Zaitsev as acting Head of Mari El.

[9] Due to the start of Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 and subsequent economic sanctions the cancellation and postponement of direct gubernatorial elections was proposed.

[11] Eventually, the postponement never occurred, as on 10 June State Assembly of the Mari El Republic called head election for 11 September 2022.