MINSK, 21 February (BelTA) - The turnout on the first day of early voting in the parliamentary and local elections was fairly high, Chairman of the Belarusian Central Election Commission Igor Karpenko told reporters, BelTA has learned.
"Compared to the campaigns of 2018 and 2019, the first-day turnouts were 4.4% in 2018 and 4.7% in 2019. Presidential campaigns are different. The turnout is always slightly higher. The final figure of early voting (I looked at all previous campaigns since 2018, including the referendum) hovers from 30% to 45% and varies on all five days. Yesterday, we had a voter turnout of 5.94%. This is a fairly high turnout. There is interest, including thanks to the media," Igor Karpenko said. “Young people are active. We are pleased with such activity and interest in the election campaign.”
According to him, the CEC is currently very busy. "We are receiving calls from citizens who ask to clarify some information, where to vote, where a polling station is located. In other words, we are carrying out very serious information work today. In this regard, we also asked the territorial commissions to take on more of this burden and explain to voters where to go to vote," the head of the CEC said.
"I think that the overall turnout will be high. Moreover, this is the first time we are holding the elections in such a format and are electing such a great number of deputies. I would like to remind you that a total of 12,514 deputies of local councils and 110 deputies of the House of Representatives of the National Assembly of the Republic of Belarus are to be elected during this campaign," Igor Karpenko added.
