District electoral commissions make obstacles for BPF observers.

15.10.2004.

Pre-term elections started on October 12. At the districts of Eastern electoral region #107 where the chairperson of BPF, Vincuk Viachorka, stands for the election the observers faced difficulties at once.
So at the district #517 (school #66) and #656 (Baravaja, the secretary of the commission – Rutkevich Halina) observers representing NGOs were denied in registration and the decision was based on the fact that they did not have member certificates (which are not necessary according to the Statutes of the NGOs). The observers were registered only after having applied to the regional electoral commission.

Again problems arose in State trade college (the director of which stands for the elections in another district) – district #516, the chairperson – Palanevich Alena Vasiljeuna. On the territory of the district there are several dormitories. On the first day of the pre-term election the commission evicted empowered people of the candidate Viachorka on the grounds that they were asking students whether they came to the electoral districts in advance voluntarily. The second empowered person who asked for a number of electorate. When she was denied she asked to look through the lists of the voters. Afterwards she was denied in getting any information concerning the lists and the representative of the commission added that she was staying to close to the table and “disturbing the work of the commission”. The observers believe that Mrs. Palanievich violated article 21 of the Electoral Code.

The observers inform that on October 11 at around 19/00 pupils of elementary school were going out of the school #122 where two electoral stations are based (#519 and #520) with large piles of agitation materials of another candidate – Mr. Kruk, member of Council of Republic. The students said that the materials were given to them by their teacher Ludmila Aliaksandrauna Vaskrasenskaja. She also told them to put the materials into mail boxes in their neighboring houses. The observers consider that to be a vivid example of using the administrative resource, using of the dependence of small children on their teacher and violation of article 73 of Electoral Code.

BPF Press group

“SPRING” INFORMATION DEPARTMENT