Presidential election 2015 in Belarus

MINSK, 11 October (BelTA) - The incumbent president Alexander Lukashenko received more than 80% of the vote in the president election, say the relevant data of the exit polls announced on air of the Belarusian TV channels, BelTA has learned.

Director of the Sociology Institute of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus Igor Kotlyarov announced the results of the exit poll on air of the Belarus 1 TV Channel. "The results of the exit poll by the Sociology Institute are as such: Alexander Lukashenko is leading with 82.9% of the vote. Percentage of votes cast for the three remaining presidential candidates is within the sociological error,” said Igor Kotlyarov. “Thus, Sergei Gaidukevich gained 4.8% of the vote, Tatiana Korotkevich 4.3%, Nikolai Ulakhovich 2.1%. 5.9% of voters voted against all,” he informed.

The Sociology Institute exit polls were conducted by approximately 100 sociologists, covering more than 50 polling stations.

In an interview with the ONT TV Channel, Director of the Institute for Comparative Social Studies Eurasian Barometer Christian Haerpfer said that they polled 11,896 citizens. The answers were as follows: Alexander Lukashenko is leading with 80.3% of the vote, Tatiana Korotkevich is second with 5.6%, Sergei Gaidukevich is in third scoring 5.1%, and Nikolai Ulakhovich goes fourth with 1.9%. 7.09% of voters voted against all.

"Our exit poll was conducted according to the international rules of holding exit polls developed by sociologists and political scientists. We interviewed more than 11,000 citizens. Out exit polling team consisted of 16 regional coordinators in all regions of Belarus. A total of 909 pollers worked on 303 polling stations. The sample is representative. This is a random selection which covers absolutely all groups of the population of Belarus,” said Christian Haerpfer.

According to the results of the Youth Laboratory of Social Studies of the Belarusian Committee of Youth Organizations announced on air of the STV TV Channel, Sergei Gaidukevich gained 5.2% of the vote, Tatiana Korotkevich – 4.9%, Alexander Lukashenko – 84.1%, Nikolai Ulakhovich – 1.4%. 4.4% voted against all.

"The statistical error does not exceed 5%. As a rule this is 2-3%,” said Ph.D. in Sociology Yuri Chernyak, the head of the Youth Laboratory of Social Studies of the Belarusian Committee of Youth Organizations. The technology, which is used to conduct exit polls in Belarus, does nto differ fundamentally from foreign technologies, he added.

As was reported, three social research agencies conducted the president election exit polls in Belarus. These were the Sociology Institute of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus, the Youth Laboratory of Social Studies of the Belarusian Committee of Youth Organizations, and the Institute for Comparative Social Studies Eurasian Barometer.