MINSK, 1 February (BelTA) – In the latest episode of BelTA’s project “The Nation Speaks” experts spoke on how much precinct commissions were renewed at the presidential election in Belarus.
“It is essential for a member of a precinct commission to know the Electoral Code thoroughly,” Chairman of the Mogilev Oblast election commission Yevgeny Alekso said. “Every member of the commission, who was nominated by public organizations, political parties, was selected keeping this point in mind. Background, professional experience, or the experience of working as part of precinct or territorial commissions are taken into account. Of course, all these aspects played a positive role in organizing the work of election commissions.”
According to Chairman of the Minsk City Election Commission Aleksandr Shchekovich, there is naturally a turnover of both members and chairpersons in precinct commissions. “But the backbone remains the same. These are highly experienced people, because they have been through more than one election campaign and understand how to make sure that everything is smooth and well-organized. However, ‘our colleagues’ from the OSCE/ODIHR, from the experience of their participation in previous election campaigns, perceived it as nepotism,” he said.
There are traditionally more women in precinct commissions, Head of the Department for Legal, Analytical and Methodological Work at the Central Election Commission of Belarus Yelena Grigorovich added.
“At the press conference of the CEC head on 27 January, the chairperson of the Pan-African Parliament said these words: When we visited polling stations, we were very much surprised to see a large number of women working in the commissions. For us, this is a sign of trust. We trust because a woman cannot cheat. This was said absolutely openly. On the one hand, it causes irony, but on the other hand, we understand how competently we form commissions from this point of view,” said Andrei Belyakov, Head of the Center for Public Relations and Electoral Process of the Academy of Public Administration under the Aegis of the President of Belarus, member of the Scientific and Expert Council at the Central Election Commission of Belarus.
Representative of the Public Election Observation Center, Second Secretary of the Central Committee of the BRSM Youth Union Aleksandr Ivanenko spoke about the participation of young people in the presidential election campaign. “We were asked how the BRSM Youth Union was involved in the process. We said that 3,200 people were members of precinct commissions, and 4,600 were national observers. There is a clear position and understanding here. These are young people, who are interested in politics, who would like to try their hand at participating in the election campaign, but not as observers, but as members of precinct, territorial commissions and so on. We need to let these 4,600 people become observers, get experience and then become part of these 3,200 members of commissions,” he said. “Therefore, how quickly precinct commissions are renewed depends, among other things, on how often the national observers change. They work as observers one or two times, gain experience, understanding of all processes and can already be nominated for the corresponding commission during the next election campaign.”
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