Salihorsk observers petition election commissions for transparent vote count

The independent observers of two Salihorsk constituencies addressed local polling stations election commissions with a proposal to make the vote count procedures transparent for all the election commissioners and the observers present.

The observers say previous election campaigns were marked by lack of transparency of vote counting, when each member of an election commission was in charge of counting only part of the ballots, while other officials could not verify the election results.

According to representative of the Belarusian Helsinki Committee Leanid Markhotka, to fully implement Par. 3 Art. 55 of the Electoral Code, which provides for uninterrupted vote counting (i.e. vote count should not be suspended to record interim results), the election officials should select a manner that could enable each member to be involved in one and only one ballot counting and to see every ballot paper with the voter’s mark on it.

“Such procedures will help guarantee the adequate level of transparency of vote counting both to election commissioners and observers, as required by the election legislation,” believes Leanid Markhotka.

“Human Rights Defenders for Free Elections”