MINSK, 24 February (BelTA) – More than 190 international observers have been accredited for the constitutional referendum in Belarus, Chairman of the Central Election Commission of Belarus Igor Karpenko said as he met with head of the CIS observation mission, Deputy Chairman of the CIS Executive Committee – CIS Executive Secretary Ilkhom Nematov on 24 February, BelTA has learned.
“A total of 194 international observers have been accredited so far. Twenty-two international observers represent Austria, Germany, Spain, Italy, Lithuania, Serbia, Ukraine, and Estonia. That is quite a wide range of countries, from which observers will also come at the invitation of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs,” Igor Karpenko said.
The CEC head added that 44,000 national observers have been also accredited for the referendum.
The Central Election Commission said that 144 observers represent the CIS observation mission, including 37 from the CIS Inter-Parliamentary Assembly, 12 observers from the central election bodies of Azerbaijan, Armenia, Russia, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan, 14 from the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and two from the CSTO Parliamentary Assembly. Twenty-two people have been accredited as independent observers. These are politicians, MPs, public figures from Austria, Estonia, Germany, Italy, Lithuania, Serbia, Spain, Sweden and Ukraine. They do not represent any observations missions or organizations, they act solely as independent experts.
Early voting for the constitutional referendum in Belarus is running from 22 to 26 February. Polling stations will be open from 10:00 to 14:00 and from 16:00 to 19:00. A voter does not have to provide an excuse to vote early.
