Polatsak: Main principle of forming precinct election commissions is dependence
The principles of creation precinct election commissions did not change in Polatsak – just as it happened during the previous election, members of one work collective often become the core of a precinct commission. The person who the rest of commission members depend on is often chosen commission chairperson. Let take precinct election commission # 1 as an example.
Precinct election commission # 1
Polling station – Palace of Culture of “Polatsak – Shklovalakno” plant
1. Dzmitry Bakhur — nominated by work collective of workshop # 7 “Polatsak – Shklovalakno” plant
2. Liudmila Vaniushkina -- nominated by work collective of quality department “Polatsak – Shklovalakno” plant
3. Tatsiana Hrynevich — nominated by work collective of workshop # 910 “Polatsak – Shklovalakno” plant
4. Maryna Zhohal — nominated by work collectives of Trudovaya Smena newspaper, personnel and social development department, and general service department of “Polatsak – Shklovalakno” plant, secretary of the commission
5. Vera Kaltsova — nominated by work collective of works # 1 of “Polatsak – Shklovalakno” plant
6. Zoya Krasavina — nominated by work collective of sports and culture complex of “Polatsak – Shklovalakno” plant, deputy chair of the commission
7. Liudmila Makhonina — nominated by work collective of RD department of “Polatsak – Shklovalakno” plant
8. Liudmila Propp — nominated by work collective of executive managers of “Polatsak – Shklovalakno”, chair of the commission
9. Pavel Sanko — nominated by work collective of workshop for production of long glass fiber #12 of “Polatsak – Shklovalakno” plant
10. Snezhanna Semashka — nominated by work collective of accounts department of “Polatsak – Shklovalakno” plant
11. Elena Tsarova — nominated by work collective of children’s daycare of “Polatsak – Shklovalakno” plant
12. Sofia Tsura — nominated by the Communist Party of Belarus
13. Siarhei Shyshkunou -- nominated by work collectives of LAN department of “Polatsak – Shklovalakno” plant
14. Valiantsina Shuranava — nominated by work collective of workshop # 9 of “Polatsak – Shklovalakno” plant
15. Aliaksandar Shcharbakou — nominated by work collective of workshop of acid processing and thermochemical treatment of glass fiber of “Polatsak – Shklovalakno” plant
Meanwhile, L. Propp, the commission's chair, represents the top executives of the company, being deputy general manager for ideological work. Deputy chair Zoya Krasavina is the director of the Palace of Culture where the polling station is located. The budget for cultural events depends directly on the company’s management. The secretary of the commission is a journalist of a plant’s newspaper Trudovaya Smena. The existence of the newspaper, which never writes any critical articles, completely depends on the management. The only person who does not work for the company at the moment is CPB member Sofia Tsura, now pensioner, who used to be one of the honored weavers at the same Shklovalakno plant.
In the same district in all cases when polling stations are located in schools (24 out of 38 polling stations), school principals are chairmen of the precinct commissions. If two polling stations are located in one school (7 cases), the post of the chair of the second commission is occupied by staff of the city executive commission or top managers of the companies that sponsor the school. Members of the commissions are teachers of the same schools or employees of the sponsor companies. Teachers many of whom face dismissal because of the school reform make up an overwhelming majority in all “school” commissions (9 people out of 15 commission members in commission # 5 (secondary school # 10); 10 out of 12 member sin commission # 6 (Polatsak gymnasia # 1); 8 out of 14 members in commission # 18 (secondary school # 5)).
Human Rights Defenders for Free Elections
