MINSK, 10 August (BelTA) – The Central Election Commission of Belarus has announced preliminary results of Belarus' presidential election. The incumbent president Aleksandr Lukashenko got 80.23% of the vote, BelTA has learned.
According to the preliminary information, Svetlana Tikhanovskaya was the candidate of choice for 9.9% of voters. Anna Kanopatskaya received 1.68% of the vote, Andrei Dmitriyev got 1.04%, Sergei Cherechen got 1.13%, ‘none of the above' 6.02%.
Chairperson of the Central Election Commission Lidia Yermoshina showed reporters the preliminary voting results. “It was done virtually by hand, because the Central Election Commission, at least an analyst and I, there were only two of us, were evacuated from the government headquarters at 1AM. Therefore, we were not receiving the results. We have just received them, virtually before this briefing,” Lidia Yermoshina said. Therefore, yesterday the CEC chair announced only those voting results that were submitted by the polling stations set up in hospitals and military units. In addition to that, results from some districts were also unveiled.
According to the CEC preliminary estimates, 5,798,908 people cast their ballots or 84.23% of eligible voters.
A total of 4,652,423 people voted for Aleksandr Lukashenko. Andrei Dmitriyev was the candidate of choice for 60,543 voters. Anna Kanopatskaya received 97,926 votes; 574,312 people cast their ballots for Svetlana Tikhanovskaya; 65,784 people voted for Sergei Cherechen.
As the CEC will be getting ready for its session, the figures will be double-checked. “I do not think that they will change dramatically,” Lidia Yermoshina said.
