MOSCOW. April 17 (Interfax) - President Dmitry Medvedev has denied rumors that a triple filter is hidden in the bill on direct gubernatorial elections.

file photo "I have never said that I have submitted the final variant. Bills are passed by the parliament. The president does or does not sign them," Medvedev said at an Open Government meeting on Tuesday.

No triple filter is to be found on the bill which will be heard in its second reading, he said.

"There are no filters at all in it in the traditional sense of the word," he said.

"The bill carries two models which were present in a covert way in the first submitted edition," he said.

"There is one more model which we analyzed. But the final variant will be put to vote in the State Duma which will decide on its own how many mechanisms for consultations should be saved - one, two or none," the president said.

The "filters" issue was raised by Ekho Moskvy Editor-in-Chief Alexei Venediktov.

"There are three filters in the bill - not between the objectionable candidates and the governor's seat, but between voters and the governor: presidential, municipal and party-related. The expectation that the authorities may entrust the function of their election to citizens is removed with three filters," Venediktov said.

"Citizens must be provided with explanations. The explanation like 'you are not prepared to elect governors, or mayors, or president' looks very dubious," he said.

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