MINSK, 17 November (BelTA) – Today Belarusians are going to the polls to elect a new House of Representatives, BelTA has learned.
Voting will be running from 8.00 till 20.00. However, precinct elections commissions in military units, sanatoriums, hospitals, rest homes, and other healthcare organizations may declare voting finished before 20.00 once all registered voters have cast their ballots.
Voters are issued a ballot paper upon producing: passport of the Republic of Belarus, civil servant identification card, university student identification card, driver’s license, military service card for active-duty military personnel, pensioner identification card or disabled identification card with a photo, temporary certificate issued by police to citizens who have lost their passports.
A total of 110 constituencies (the same number of MPs will be elected) have been formed for the elections to the House of Representatives. An estimated 5,831 polling stations will function, including 46 abroad.
According to the Central Election Commission (CEC) of Belarus, as of 16 November a total of 513 candidates will stand in the elections to the House of Representatives of the national Assembly. No candidate stands unopposed.
Elections to the House of Representatives are held in single-mandate constituencies. The results are determined by a majority-vote electoral system. Elections are considered valid if more than half of the registered voters cast their ballots within a constituency. The candidate who gets the biggest number of votes wins the elections.
An estimated 6,880,605 people are eligible to vote at this year's parliamentary elections in Belarus.