Early voting for the election of deputies to local councils begins today in Belarus

April 20, Minsk / Yekaterina Nechayeva - BELTA/. Early voting for the local council elections begins today in Belarus. This was reported to a BELTA correspondent by Nikolai Lozovik, Secretary of the Central Commission for Elections and Republican Referendums. Polling stations will open across the country at 10:00 AM. Early voting will be available for five days: from April 20 to April 24. Voters can come to the polling station from 10:00 AM to 2:00 PM and from 4:00 PM to 7:00 PM. The two time slots are established to allow people working both the first and second shifts to vote. The commission will issue ballots to voters based on two documents, the main one being the list of citizens eligible to vote at the given polling station. Upon arriving at the polling station, a citizen must present an identification document that must include a photograph. This can be a passport, military ID, civil servant's ID, pension certificate, student ID, a certificate from the internal affairs bodies (for those who have lost their passport), and a residence permit (for Russian citizens permanently residing in our country). Depending on the polling station, there will be a different number of candidates for deputy on the ballots. If there are several candidates, the voter puts any graphic mark in the square next to the name of the candidate they consider worthy. There is also an option to vote "against all." If there is only one candidate listed on the ballot, there will be two squares next to their name with the inscriptions "for" and "against," one of which the voter must mark. Nikolai Lozovik noted that this year, taking into account the changes in electoral legislation, the control over early voting will be stricter. For example, on the first day of early voting, election commissions will have to seal the ballot boxes in the presence of a quorum of two-thirds of the commission members (previously, this procedure could be carried out by two commission members). At the end of each voting day, i.e., at 7:00 PM, the slot in the early voting box must be sealed with a piece of paper signed by the chairperson and a commission member. Every day, updated protocols with information on the number of citizens who participated in early voting will be posted in the voting room. -0-