How much does an election campaign cost a young candidate?
Not a single kopeek. No candidate is required to make any contribution or put down a deposit. The entire election campaign is financed by the state. That places all candidates in equal conditions, which cannot be said of the system in capitalist countries.
Incidentally, no young person-nor for that matter any person at all-can put himself forward as a candidate. The right of nomination belongs to collectives of workers, members of collective farms, and office workers; at their meetings candidates proposed by public organisations and individuals are discussed. The list of candidates on the ballot includes only those approved at such meetings.
Nor are there any restrictions on candidates as regards property status, educational level and so on.
Age and ability are the only criteria. To stand for the USSR Supreme Soviet a person has to be over the age of 21, and for the local Soviets-past his or her 18th birthday.