Seminar with the participation of the Secretary of the Central Election Commission of Belarus Elena Dmukhaylo: focus on key aspects of electoral legislation
As Elena Dmukhaylo noted, this is a traditional training session, which is held after the formation of district commissions (completed on September 2). And although the district commissions, as a rule, consist of experienced people who are working not for the first election campaign, they need to be reminded of some organizational aspects, to pay attention to situations that will have to be resolved, and to emphasize the key points of the legislation.
The first stage of the election campaign, according to Elena Nikolaevna, generally proceeded calmly across the country. During the formation of commissions, there were isolated complaints that did not significantly affect the outcome. The Vitebsk region, along with the Brest region, registered the largest number of members of district election commissions from opposition parties, eight each (while the Mogilev region had none). The Secretary of the Central Election Commission, along with the issue of alternative representation, noted the openness of our region, as only the website of the Vitebsk Regional Executive Committee published a list of all nominated members for district commissions. Elena Dmukhaĭlo drew the attention of those present to the duty roster of commission members at their locations, the organization of document acceptance from nominees on the final days of this campaign stage, which are weekends, the fact that election commissions are not legally required to accept and respond to electronic inquiries addressed to them, and many other nuances. Elena Nikolaevna informed that, according to preliminary data, a larger number of international observers from both missions – the CIS and the OSCE ODIHR – are expected at the current elections compared to 2016. She emphasized that the law does not stipulate the right for observers to take video and photos at polling stations on election day, but it is recommended to allow a small number of shots from locations designated by the chairpersons of the commissions. Regarding the media: representatives of both traditional and online publications with official registration are allowed to be present at the elections. Bloggers are not included in this category.
The Chairman of the Regional Council of Deputies, Vladimir Terentyev, stressed that joint meetings of the presidiums of district and city councils and executive committees for the formation of precinct commissions should also be held in the region in an organized manner, in accordance with the Electoral Code. 780 precinct commissions will be formed, compared to 819 in the previous campaign. This is due to a decrease in the number of voters and the consolidation of small rural polling stations. The nomination of candidates is already underway. As of the seminar date, district commissions had received 35 applications from initiative groups of voters for candidate registration.
Seminar participants received answers to their questions.