Observers are snubbed by poll workers, Belarusian Helsinki Committee says :: Charter'97 :: News

The Belarusian Helsinki Committee (BHC) said that observers have problem getting any information from poll workers during the early voting stage of local elections that began on January 9.

"Few of our monitors have been told the total number of voters in the precinct," said BHC Executive Director Oleg Gulak. "It`s impossible altogether to obtain any data about how many people have voted and how many ballots have been supplied to the polling station."

Poll workers have refused to reply even to written requests for such information, according to the activist.

Mr. Gulak stressed that candidates in the elections have few campaigning opportunities, which he said has been acknowledged even by Lidiya Yermoshina, head of the central election commission. "I`m holding a map of the number 27 Sukharevsky election district. There are more than 20,000 voters in it. And there`s only one venue where campaigning materials may be displayed and candidates may meet with voters. It is located nearly on a construction site on the outskirts of the district," the human rights organization`s representative noted.

Mr. Gulak sounded an alarm over reports that what is called "pre-election meetings" will be held at state-run companies and schools on January 11 and 12. "The strangest thing is that this will not be candidates` meetings with voters. They will be held by the institutions` administrations and ideological workers. It`s possible that those attending such meetings will be offered to vote early," Mr. Gulak said.