Some Facts of Violations during Voting on 19 March

20.03.2006.

Navapolatsk: polling station election commission refused to register an observer who was nominated by collection of signatures. The commission said they would register him in the case he brought to the polling station all those who had signed for his nomination.

Homel: at 8.30 a.m. some members of polling station election commission #8 went out with ballot box for home voting. They returned at 3 p.m. Then an unknown person, who wasn’t a member of the election commission, took the ballot box away.

Minsk: the seal at the ballot box of polling station #5 in Leninski borough differed from the officially recognized one. Voters of apartment 31 of house 121 in Pliakhanau St. came to vote and found that at their polling station had already voted the people who used to own the flat and then moved out. Watches were given to people for early voting (before the election day) at polling station #2 of Kastrychnitski borough. At polling station #24 of Tsentralny borough there could be heard the song of Siabry pops-band Batska (Father).

Vitsebsk: members of polling station commission #5 of Chyhunachny borough phoned and said they had signed the final minutes of voting the day before. At polling station #19 citizens of Russia were allowed to vote.

Slonim: elector Topaleu came to polling station #13 and found out he ‘had voted’ on 15 March.

Baranavichy: the authorities got rid of independent observers. On 18 March the police paid visits to all the registered independent observers and composed on them reports under article 156 of the Code of Administrative Violations (‘petty hooliganism’) for alleged swearing. They visited 45 flats and on the following day 45 observers didn’t come to the polling stations to escape the arrest.

’Observers were removed from polling stations everywhere. The official reason was incorrect filling of the minutes for their nomination. Many of them were extruded with the police assistance’, -- said the lawyer Uladzimir Labkovich.