Outrage against Electoral Code in Minsk polling station

All the members of the election commission of polling station No. 126 (constituency No. 94) are employees of Leninski district administration, which constitutes a violation of the Electoral Code, say observers of the Human Rights Defenders for Free Elections campaign.

According to the campaign’s expert Uladzimir Labkovich, Art. 34 of the Electoral Code requires that government officials should hold no more than 1/3 of the composition of an election commission, while Art. 35 says that each organization can delegate only one representative.

Apart from that, observers report a flagrant violation of early voting procedures at the same polling station. In particular, the election officials reportedly opened a sealed ballot box after the polling station had been closed. The election commissioners argue that three elderly people came to vote after the end of the working day, and they unsealed the box and let them cast their ballots. Meanwhile, the voters’ names were registered under 18 September. According to the observers, the incident is an outrage against Art. 53 of the Electoral Code.

“Human Rights Defenders for Free Elections”