MINSK, 20 April (BelTA) – The early elections to the local Councils of Deputies will start in Belarus on 20 April, BelTA learnt from Secretary of the Central Election Commission (CEC) Nikolai Lozovik.
Polling stations are set to open at 10h00 a.m. The early elections will last for five days: from 20 to 24 April. People will be able to vote from 10h00 a.m. to 2h00 p.m. and from 4h00 p.m. to 7h00p.m.
Ballot papers will be distributed due to the list of people eligible for voting at a particular polling station. Arriving at the polling station, a person needs to present his/her ID with a photo. It can be a passport, a military service record card, a certificate of employment, a pension certificate, a student identity card, other documents.
Ballot papers will have different number of candidates to the deputies depending on the polling station. A voter needs to put any graphic symbol in a place next to the candidate’s name. A person has also a right to vote against all the candidates.
According to Nikolai Lozovik, the early elections will be under a tougher control due to the changes in the election legislation this year. Thus, on the first day of the early elections election commissions will seal ballot boxes at the presence of a quorum comprising two thirds of the commission (the procedure has earlier been conducted by only two members of the commission). At the end of every day of the elections, i.e. at 7h00 p.m., the box slot will be pasted up with a paper signed by the chairman and a member of the commission. The information on the number of people voted will be updated on a daily basis.
