MINSK, 27 February (BelTA) - Today Belarusians are going to the polls to vote on the new Constitution of the Republic of Belarus, BelTA has learned.
Some 5,510 polling stations have been set up in Belarus, including 217 in sanatoriums, rest homes, hospitals and other healthcare organizations, and also 12 in military units.
Voting will be running from 8.00 till 20.00.
Holders of ID cards or biometric passports can vote in the same way as holders of ordinary passports. It is also possible to use a pension card, a disabled person's ID if it has a photo, a student ID, a civil servant ID, as well as a certificate issued by an internal affairs body to replace a lost passport or ID card.
If a citizen is registered in one place and resides in another, he/she must prove his/her residence within the territory of this polling station. It is necessary to present a registered rental agreement or other document. On the basis of such a document, the commission can include a citizen in the voting list. In this case, he/she should be excluded from the voting list at the main place of residence.
All necessary conditions to comply with the sanitary and epidemiological requirements prescribed by the Healthcare Ministry as part of the fight against the spread of COVID-19 have been ensured during the voting. This included the selection of appropriate premises to secure social distance, as well as ventilation, cleaning, disinfection, availability of antiseptics, personal protective equipment at every polling station. The same as during the 2020 presidential election, it was decided to remove the front curtains in the voting booths. Citizens with COVID-19, who are treated at home, will also have no problems with voting in the referendum. Such citizens can ask for home voting.
The referendum question is: “Do you accept the amendments and additions to the Constitution of the Republic of Belarus?”
Voters will have to put their mark in one of the two boxes - “for” or “against”. Voters can put any mark in one of the boxes. If both the boxes are mark or neither of them is marked, such a ballot will be considered invalid.
The referendum is conducted by universal, free, equal and secret ballot. Citizens over 18 years of age shall have the right to participate in it. Each person shall vote in person.
The referendum shall be considered valid if more than half of the citizens on the voting list cast their ballots.
