News on the topic: local council elections-2010
24.03.2010 Babruisk: several candidates quit election due to ‘family reasons’
Only 12 Belarusian Christian Democracy members will run in the local council elections in the town of Babruisk, after three candidates reportedly withdrew their applications for registration due to ‘family reasons.’ They asked not to publish their names and constituencies in fear of possible harassment by their employers.
23.03.2010 ‘Administrative itch’ of Orsha officials
Orsha town executive committee passed an unprecedented decision on the authorized canvassing locations in the town, specifying separate sites for each of the 30 constituencies. According to the local leaders of pro-democratic political parties, the decision is ‘an administrative itch’ of the town authorities, obsessed with controlling each and every turn of the electoral campaign.
23.03.2010 Canvassing allowed near death care store in Mahiliou
Mahiliou city executive committee released a list of canvassing locations, with only one site available for public electoral events, making an unfortunate ‘misprint’ in the building’s address – the decision names 64 Chaliuskintsau (a 4-storied block of flats adjoined by the local death care service), instead of 64A Chaliuskintsau (traditional place of authorized street events in the Kuibyshev Artificial Fiber Factory Palace of Culture).
23.03.2010 No electoral competition in Homel region
According to preliminary data, there will be no competition in local council elections in Homel region, with 2,933 candidates to contest 2,898 seats in village constituencies, 156 candidates claiming 146 seats of town councils and the 30/30 ratio in urban constituencies.
23.03.2010 CEC sees no electoral violations in Hrodna
No violations were made during the formation of the divisional election commissions in Hrodna Leninski and Kastrychnitski districts, says Lidzia Yarmoshyna, chair of the Central Election Commission in her official reply to a complaint by local human rights activist Raman Yurhel, after the local state-owned newspaper Hrodzenskaya prauda published information on the composition of the commissions 8 days after the respective decisions were taken.
22.03.2010 Election campaign: past week in facts and figures
The beginning of the week coincided with the last day of nomination of candidates for deputies of local councils of various levels. Official figures on the number of persons who applied to the territorial and constituency election commissions for registration of their candidacies were made public. Lidzia Yarmoshyna publicly named the scanty rate of nominees from the political parties as the results of the ‘advantages’ given to the parties by the amended electoral law. Against the background of statements by the CEC head on enhancing competition among candidates for deputy seats, the representatives of pro-democratic forces began counting uncontested constituencies in the country.
22.03.2010 Vitsebsk region: canvassing opportunities restricted
Analysts say canvassing opportunities in Vitsebsk region are considerably restricted after local state-owned mass media published official decisions by executive committees of different levels.
22.03.2010 Baranavichy Prosecutor sees no visible legal violations in election campaign
Baranavichy independent observer Siarhei Housha received a reply to his appeal lodged with the town’s prosecutor’s office, claiming that the complaint was ‘groundless’. The claim was filed after local state-owned newspaper ‘Nash Krai’ failed to meet the provisions of the Electoral Code and publish the list of divisional electoral commissions members in due time.
22.03.2010 Rechytsa divisional election commission demands illegal papers
Rechytsa divisional election commission demands Andrei Stryzhak, running in local constituency #49, to provide documents that are not required by the law. The Commission required that the candidate provided unemployment certificate, after Mr. Stryzhak stated that he was temporarily unemployed in his registration application.
22.03.2010 Number of voters in Svetlahorsk district deviates from norm
In eight constituencies of Svetlahorsk district the quantity of voters diverges from the norm provided by the Electoral Code. Article 15 of the Code states that constituencies are formed by equal amounts of voters, with 10% of admissible deviation.
19.03.2010 Limited canvassing opportunities for Vitsebsk candidates
Vitsebsk candidates still cannot maintain efficient canvassing activities, since no official decisions on canvassing locations in a number of the city’s districts have been announced yet. The authorities’ inaction may result in conflicts between representative of various campaign teams, say local human rights activists.
19.03.2010 470 out of 530 Hrona region district constituencies to be non-alternative
According to official data, 590 candidates will run for 530 seats in the district councils of Hrodna region, i.e. in 470 out of the 530 region’s constituencies will be non-alternative. A similar situation is reported of Hrodna village councils, with 2,103 candidates running for 2,087 seats.
19.03.2010 Mahiliou court turns down claim by BPF ‘Adradzhenne’ members
Mahiliou Kastrychnitski Court dismissed the complaint lodged by the Belarusian Popular Front ‘Adradzhenne’ local office against the district authorities’ failure to provide timely information on the time and place of the executive committee’s meeting for the formation of electoral commissions. The party activists argue that they faced political discrimination.
19.03.2010 Hlybokaye Christian Democrat refused registration as candidate
Zmitser Lupach, activist of the unregistered Belarusian Christian Democracy, will not be able to run for Hlybokaye District Council, after his application for registration was dismissed due to 20% of collected signatures being considered fraud.
19.03.2010 Salihorsk authorities send candidates to meet voters on town outskirts
Salihorsk town executive committee released the list of public canvassing locations, featuring only two sites – the Budaunik stadium and the Budaunik palace of culture, both located on the town outskirts. Meanwhile, in some of Salihorsk district constituencies, including the towns of Starobin and Chyrvonaya Slabada, canvassing will be allowed in the town centers.
