Belarus parliament elections

Voter outreach seen as priority for election organizers in Belarus

MINSK, 15 November (BelTA) - The election organizers in Belarus put the work with voters at the top of their agenda, chairperson of the Minsk Oblast Election Commission Oksana Taranda told the media, BelTA has learned.

More than 3,500 observers have been registered with the precinct, district and Minsk oblast election commissions, Oksana Taranda said. “They are given a wide range of opportunities. However, it would be wrong to say that the election commissions work for observers. We are working for voters who come to the polls now as part of early voting and who will vote on the election day on 17 November,” she noted.

Sixty-seven parliamentary candidates are standing for election in Minsk Oblast. There are no unopposed electoral districts, with three candidates at the minimum or six at the most running in a district. Among the candidates in Minsk Oblast are representatives of different political parties, people of different ages and professions (managers, hairdressers, realtors), Oksana Taranda said as she met with the delegation of the CIS Inter-Parliamentary Assembly.

During the meeting the CIS IPA observers asked about the election campaigning, the financing of campaign events. A number of questions were related to early voting, the way it is organized. The members of the commission gave exhaustive answers to all the questions.

In Belarus the CIS IPA observers have monitored the candidate registration process, pre-election campaigning, said Yekaterina Goloulina, the acting director of the International Institute for Monitoring Democracy Development, Parliamentarianism and Suffrage Protection of Citizens of CIS IPA Member Nations (CIS  IPA IIMDD). “So far, we can state that all the activities carried out during the election campaign have been in accordance with the electoral law,” she said.

A total of 49 observers from the CIS IPA have received accreditation to monitor the elections to the House of Representatives. They will work in Minsk Oblast, Grodno Oblast, the city of Minsk and polling stations abroad.

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