More than 612.5 thousand voters have participated in the elections of local council deputies since the start of early voting

April 22, Minsk / Ekaterina Nechaeva - BELTA /. Over two days of early voting in the elections of deputies to local councils in Belarus, 612,522 voters, or 8.7% of the total number of citizens eligible to vote, took part. This was reported to a BELTA correspondent by Nikolai Lozovik, Secretary of the Central Commission for Elections and Republican Referendums. 7.2% of voters in the Brest region, 9.6% in the Vitebsk region, 10.9% in the Gomel region, 7.1% in the Grodno region, 8.8% in the Minsk region, 10.2% in the Mogilev region, and 7.5% in the city of Minsk have already taken advantage of the opportunity to vote early. Nikolai Lozovik noted that early voting is currently more active than during the previous elections of deputies to local councils. At that time, 6.9% of voters participated in the elections over two days of early voting. "Paradoxically, this may be due to the abolition of the mandatory turnout threshold in these elections. Today, when there is no such barrier, citizens have more freedom to participate or not participate in the elections, yet they demonstrate their awareness and civic responsibility," said the CEC representative. Speaking generally about the course of the election campaign for the elections of deputies to local councils, Nikolai Lozovik noted that "everything is calm, there are no excesses." Moreover, he is "even pleased with the remarks regarding the organization of elections that the opposition notes." Among the violations, they cite, for example, a lack of space on stands in Bobruisk for placing information leaflets. "On the one hand, this is an organizational drawback, but overall, it is positive that the fight for voter recognition is so active," summarized the Secretary of the Central Election Commission. Early voting for elections to local Councils of Deputies will continue in Belarus until April 24 inclusive, polling stations are open from 10:00 to 14:00 and from 16:00 to 19:00. The main voting day is April 25. -0-