MINSK, 29 September (BelTA) – It is virtually impossible to monitor the vote count procedure by placing web cameras at polling stations, BelTA learned from Chairwoman of the Central Election Commission (CEC) of Belarus Lidia Yermoshina on 29 September.
Several days ago Lidia Yermoshina took part in observing a referendum in Azerbaijan. She spoke in detail about the experience she gained during the monitoring mission, including the rather popular know-how, which is not practiced in Belarus so far — the deployment of web cameras at polling stations for the sake of allowing observers to work remotely from behind their computers.
In particular, Lidia Yermoshina noted that it is possible only to see the general picture on a PC screen. A blatant stuffing of ballot boxes or a brawl will be noticed. “As for the rest, a polling station is a big place, there is only one camera. It is virtually impossible to see how votes are counted or which stack of ballots is larger,” said the head of the Belarusian election organization agency. Nevertheless, web cameras play a positive role from the political point of view.
Lidia Yermoshina also said that there is a single registry of voters in Azerbaijan. Voters can access it to see whether their name is on the lists. Lidia Yermoshina pointed out that in Azerbaijan university students can vote only in the place of their primary residence. They cannot vote at their universities unlike Belarusian students. In Azerbaijan citizens convicted for minor offenses can also vote via mobile ballot boxes.
