17 November 2019, 21:21

Belarus' CEC recognizes parliamentary elections as valid in all constituencies

MINSK, 17 November (BelTA) – The elections are valid in all the 110 constituencies. Chairwoman of the Central Election Commission (CEC) of Belarus Lidia Yermoshina made the statement on the air of the TV channel Belarus One, BelTA has learned.

Lidia Yermoshina said: “All the constituencies in Belarus indicate that the voter turnover has exceeded 50%. Respectively one can say that all the MPs will be elected because we have no constituency without an alternative candidate.”

Asked about how Instagram and other social networks have influenced the voter turnout, Lidia Yermoshina said she believes the social networks make voters more active.

“We had the voter turnout of 70.72% as of 18:00 and we had two hours left [till the polling stations had to close at 20:00]. If we talk about the elections held in 2016, the voter turnout was at 74% as of 20:00. One can say that there is a stronger interest in elections primarily due to the Internet I think,” Lidia Yermoshina noted.

No complaints filed with Belarus' CEC on election day

The situation on election day remains stable. “No written complaints have been filed on election day irregularities with the Central Election Commission yet,” Lidia Yermoshina informed.

At least 25 written, 52 verbal queries submitted to Belarus' CEC on 17 November

“Roughly half of the calls were placed when citizens were trying to find out at what polling station they could cast their votes. There were complaints about errors in the registry of voters, in how invitations to participate in elections were sent,” the CEC head said.

Spikes of activity during Belarusian parliament election campaign noted

There were several headline-making cases when heads of election commissions complained about pressure from observers or from so-called independent mass media. “Those were more like black PR and pressure. Those were staged actions,” Lidia Yermoshina believes.

Belarus' CEC in favor of changing election system taking into account national development strategy Belarus

Lidia Yermoshina believes that the government will be the one to take the decision to move from the majority-based voting system to the mixed one or a proportional one. “Voters will never agree to the change and will not support it at a referendum,” she said.

Belarus' CEC talks about amusing situations during elections Belarus

One of the complaints has been filed by a young Belarusian who had to cast his vote for the first time. “Police fined him for parking in a bad spot. He believes the Central Election Commission has to take measures to undo the fine because he was on his way to cast the vote,” Lidia Yermoshina noted.

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