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| Home | News | Photo | 2019 Parliamentary Elections in Belarus

Belarus parliamentary elections 2019

Belarus parliamentary elections 2019
17 Nov 2019

The main political event of the year – elections to the National Assembly of the Republic of Belarus  – is coming to a close. Back on 7 November, 56 members of the upper chamber of the Belarusian parliament, the Council of the Republic, were elected by local councils of the six regions and the city of Minsk. The remaining eight members will be appointed by the president. Early voting kicked off on 12 November. The election day voting took place on Sunday, 17 November.  A total of 6,880,605 registered voters were able to cast their ballot for a person who will represent their interests in the legislative body.

A total of 513 people were registered as parliamentary candidates. They competed across 110 majoritarian districts. An estimated 5,831 polling stations were set up, including 46 abroad. Polling stations were open from 8:00 till 20:00 on election day. Candidate informational posters were broadly displayed at polling stations to help voters make an informed choice. The law prohibits campaigning on election day, therefore it ended at midnight on the eve of the elections. Media was another source of information about contestants.

According to the Central Election Commission, a total of 1,029 international observers were accredited to monitor the elections. The largest observation missions were deployed by the CIS and the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights – 475 and 346 observers respectively. The OSCE Parliamentary Assembly seconded 83 experts, PACE – 28, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization – 17. Some 53 diplomats and 21 representatives of election bodies of other countries were also accredited as observers at the elections. Six independent experts monitored the election campaign as well.

There were also 28,000 citizen observers: 1,700 from political parties, 23,100 from public associations, 1,200 from labor collectives and 1,900 observers were nominated by initiative groups.

Thousands of reporters covered the election campaign all over the country. Over 670 journalists, including 323 foreign ones, were accredited with the information center of the Central Election Commission. The information center was traditionally set up in the Palace of the Republic. The center stayed open from early morning till late at night on 17 November. It hosted press conferences and interviews of the CEC members and experts. All journalists could get fresh updates firsthand.

The preliminary results of the elections were announced in the morning of 18 November. According to the CEC, the turnout was 77.22%. 110 people were elected, including thirty incumbent deputies. The new parliament will have 44 women MPs (40% of all deputies).  Members of political parties comprise 19.1% of the new House of Representatives (21 people). The average age of MPs is 50.4. All of them have a university degree.

The final stage of the parliamentary elections was captured by BelTA photo journalists who visited polling stations across the country.

 

Voter turnout in Belarus’ parliamentary elections in Vitebsk Oblast reaches 50% as of 12.00
Voting at polling station No.506 in Minsk
Voting at polling station No.506 in Minsk
Head of the Belarus President Administration Natalya Kochanova
Elections 2019: Voting is underway across Belarus
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