MINSK, 5 October (BelTA) - Results of the Belarus president exit polls will be announced at 20h30 on 11 October, head of the Belarusian Central Election Commission Lidia Yermoshina said in an interview to the First National Channel of the Belarusian Radio, BelTA has learnt.
Lidia Yermoshina noted that she will give press conferences every two hours in the information center in the Palace of Republic on 11 October. On the voting day two interesting results will be announced, which, according to Lidia Yermoshina, will give a hint as to what the result of the main electoral event will be. “The agency that will be accredited as the principal one to conduct exit polls in our country will announce the results of the exit polls at 20h30. At the same time, I will announce the data from the so-called closed polling stations where vote counting will be completed midday. These are military units and hospitals with health centers,” she said. Lidia Yermoshina also noted that data from these stations and, particularly, the hospitals where all segments of people are always representative of the vote across the country.
Earlier, the Chairperson of the Central Election Commission noted that exit polls on the election day are a regular practice for Belarus. The CEC does not order them not does it interfere in the process. "To do this, a n agency needs to get the appropriate accreditation from the commission under the Council of Ministers which operates at the National Academy of Sciences," Lidia Yermoshina explained. The agencies wishing to hold exit polls should prove that their specialists have extensive knowledge of opinion polling methods. Besides, the specialists are required to wear badges and have relevant documents on them.
Six social research agencies got accredited for conducting opinion polls on the president election in Belarus and the social and political situation in the country.