Vital Rymasheuski: CEC proposals for changes in the electoral process is a mockery of the OSCE recommendations
On 18 May 2016 the chairwoman of the Central Election Commission (CEC) in Belarus, Mrs. Lidziya Yarmoshyna, informed about the changes to be introduced at the Parliament elections in September 2016: “One side of the table, where an election commission counts the votes, should be open to observers to view. The position of the observers should be no more than three meters from the table. International observers will be allowed to the premises of district election commissions to see how the election results are put together. Observes will also be given the right to receive the number of voters included in the voting lists and those, who actually voted. More transparent discussion procedure is provided for the establishment of district and local election commissions.”
Mr. Vital Rymasheuski, BCD co-chairman comments these changes: “Central Election Commission in Belarus’ proposals on changes to the electoral process is a mockery of the recommendations of the OSCE and independent observers.
Substantial changes – transparent voting, opportunity to participate in counting of votes for representatives of the independent democratic candidates – have been discharged. According to the statements by Yarmoshyna, observers will be three meters from the counting of votes the table – that will not give any opportunity to see how people actually voted. The authorities also fear the inclusion of representatives of independent candidates in the local election commissions. Their inclusion in the higher-level commissions are irrelevant, since all falsifications occur in the local election commissions, “- he said.
“You can already expect that the elections will be brutally rigged again and that is a preparation of another criminal offense, which violates the Constitution and the rights of the Belarusian people, of every citizen to free and fair elections, the right to elect the government,” – said co-chair of the BCD.
According to him, today tens of thousands of members of election commissions of all levels, pro-government ideology workers participate in the fraud. “In this situation we need as many independent observers as possible. Independent monitoring is the only tool that can detect violations and prove that the authorities in Belarus remain illegitimate. We call upon all citizens of Belarus, who care about the fate of the country, to join the “Right to Choose” election observation campaign!”
