Belarus parliament elections

MINSK, 11 September (BelTA) - Polling stations have opened for voting in the House of Representatives of Belarus’ National Assembly, BelTA has learned.

Registered voters will be able to cast their ballots from 8.00 till 20.00.

A total of 6,018 polling stations are available for casting votes across the country, including 21 in military units and 259 in sanatoriums, hospitals, rest homes and other health care organizations which may declare voting finished before 20.00 once all registered voters have cast their ballots.

47 polling stations have been opened abroad: Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Belgium, Bulgaria, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Hungary, Venezuela, Germany, Israel, India, Italy, Kazakhstan, Canada, the People’s Republic of China, Cuba, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, the Netherlands, the United Arab Emirates, Poland, Russia, Serbia, Slovakia, the United States of America, Turkey, Uzbekistan, Ukraine, Finland, France, the Czech Republic, Switzerland, Estonia, Japan.

The voters’ lists at foreign polling stations include Belarusian citizens who live on the territory of a foreign state and those being on a business, private or tourist trip at the moment of the elections.

Voters are issued a ballot paper upon producing: passport of the Republic of Belarus, military service card for active-duty military personnel, civil servant identification card, pensioner identification card or disabled identification card with a photo, university student identification card, temporary certificate issued by police to citizens who have lost their passports, driver’s license.

The ballot paper is filled in a cabin or a room for secret voting. The reverse side of a ballot paper is signed by at least two members of a precinct election commission. Voters fill in the ballot paper themselves by putting any sign next to the name of the candidate of their choice. If a voter votes against all the candidates, he/she puts a sign next to the phrase “None of the above”. If the ballot paper has one name, then the voter puts any mark in the box “for” or in the box “against”. If a voter makes a mistake while voting, he/she needs to ask a member of the district commission for a new ballot paper.

The parliamentary elections in Belarus are general: Belarusian citizens of lawful age (18 years old) are eligible to vote. Elections are recognized as valid if the turnout makes up more than a half of votes cast in a constituency. A candidate to the parliament is considered elected if he/she gets the highest number of votes.