Presidential election 2015 in Belarus

MINSK, 16 July (BelTA) – On 16 July the Central Election Commission of Belarus received documents required to register six initiative groups of citizens that will collect voter signatures to nominate presidential candidates, BelTA learned from the website of the Central Election Commission of Belarus.

On 16 July Belarus’ CEC received documents to register initiative groups to nominate as presidential candidates Irina Pershina (Maria Khramtsova is the head of the group), Zhanna Romanovskaya (Yevgeny Naporko is the head of the group), Nikolai Statkevich (Marina Adamovich is the head of the group), Andrei Konovets (Dmitry Pilipchuk is the head of the group), Tatiana Korotkevich (Andrei Dmitriyev is the head of the group), and Anatoly Lebedko (Viktor Korneyenko is the head of the group).

On 14 July Belarus' CEC received documents for registering the initiative group to nominate Alexander Lukashenko as a presidential candidate. Mikhail Orda is the head of the group. On 15 July Belarus' CEC received documents for registering the initiative group of citizens that will collect voter signatures to nominate Sergei Kalyakin as a presidential candidate. His initiative group is led by Valery Ukhnalev. After that, documents were submitted for registering the initiative group to nominate Sergei Gaidukevich as a presidential candidate. Anatoly Khishchenko is the head of the group.

BelTA reported earlier that a session of the Central Election Commission of Belarus will be held on 17 July to allow the registration of these groups or only some of them. In accordance with the legislation the CEC is expected to make such decisions within five days after the documents to register an initiative group are submitted. The CEC will refuse to register an initiative group if regulations of the Electoral Code are violated. The person willing to become a presidential candidate can appeal against the CEC's refusal to register the initiative group. The appeal has to be filed with the Supreme Court within three days of the CEC's decision to refuse registration.