Vitsebsk: will electors come to precinct located 3 km away from their home?

The candidate for the Vitsebsk regional Council of Deputies Iryna Akulionak, activist of the organizing committee of the Belarusian Social Democratic Party Narodnaya Hramada, has to defend the electoral rights of citizens of the Budaunichaya constituency #58 where she is running. The matter is that dwellers of Bileva, a new suburb of Vitsebsk, had been assigned to the precinct that is located in secondary school #12 that is situated more than three kilometers away from the suburb. It means that many people will have to get to the precinct by public transport, sometimes even with changes.

Naturally, not every elector will be able to devote one-two hours of leisure time for voting at the local elections, and it will be difficult for elderly people and invalids to realize their right to elect. Many dwellers of the suburb told I.Akulionak about it during personal meetings.

The candidate informed the precinct election commission about this issue and was answered that it was the problem of the electors. In fact, as a result of the latest amendments of the Election Code the authorities don’t have to care about the attendance of the election – the elections will be considered as valid even if one elector votes at a constituency.

Human Rights Defenders for Free Elections