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24 March 2017, 16:42

Rapporteur on Belarus informed about results achieved by CEC expert group

MINSK, 24 March (BelTA) – Chairwoman of the Central Election Commission (CEC) of Belarus Lidia Yermoshina met with Andrea Rigoni, Rapporteur on Belarus of the Political Affairs Committee of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), in Minsk on 24 March, BelTA has learned.

Lidia Yermoshina said that Andrea Rigoni had been primarily interested in what had happened to the solutions worked out by the interagency expert group in charge of considering OSCE ODIHR recommendations on improving the election process in Belarus. “I told him that proposals to amend the Belarusian election legislation have been submitted for consideration of the head of state. We expect a government conference will be arranged to discuss them,” noted the head of the Belarusian election organization agency.

Andrea Rigoni was also curious why Belarusians can still choose the “None of the above” option in their ballots while neighboring countries no longer allow such an option. “He said that too many citizens at the polling stations where he happened to monitor the voting process opted for none of the above option,” explained the CEC head. In her words, the percentage of those, who chose the option, was low in comparison with the total number of votes. “As far as our neighbors are concerned, first, their voter turnout barrier is lower now. Second, they have made the transition from the majority voting system to the proportional one, which specifies no names of individual candidates. This is why voting none of the above has no sense over there,” said Lidia Yermoshina.

BelTA reported earlier that a session of the expert group took place on 31 January 2016 and worked out the main directions for improving the election process in Belarus. The guidelines are based on OSCE recommendations as well as the CEC recommendations, which were used during the parliamentary elections in Belarus in 2016. The recommendations include rating-based voting on the composition of election commissions, the presence of observers during the establishment of election commissions, transparent vote counting in a way that allows observers to freely discharge their duties. Proposals have been voiced in favor of reforming the institution of commission members acting in a consultative capacity. Candidates for parliamentary seats may be given more time to set up electoral funds. Corporations and individuals may be allowed to contribute to electoral funds. There are plans to improve pre-election campaigning by facilitating the organization of meetings and rallies in the pre-election period.

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