The election commissions of the Vitebsk region have already registered 14 initiative groups

As of July 4, the election commissions of the Vitebsk region have registered 14 initiative groups for collecting voter signatures in support of individuals proposed for nomination as deputies of the House of Representatives of the National Assembly of Belarus of the sixth convocation. This was reported by Gennady Filippenko, Deputy Chairman of the regional election commission.

The election commissions of the Vitebsk region received 23 applications for the registration of initiative groups. The majority of applications have already been considered at meetings of 11 district election commissions (there are 14 in total in the region), and the review of the remaining ones is ongoing. Among the initiative groups registered so far, those supporting representatives of the non-partisan bloc prevail - 8, two applicants each represent the United Civil Party and the BPF Party, and one each represents the Belarusian Social Democratic Party (Hramada) and the Belarusian Left Party "A Just World". The largest number of initiative groups - four - have been registered in the Vitebsk-Chkalovsky constituency No. 18.

"This is an average level of activity, and in general, we do not expect a large number of initiative groups, as this is the most difficult way to be nominated as a candidate. After all, subsequently, the group will have to collect signatures from the public, and there must be at least 1,000 of them. It is much easier to be nominated by a party or a work collective - by submitting a protocol of a meeting of an enterprise's collective or a decision of a party's governing body to the commission," explained Gennady Filippenko. He clarified that after registration, initiative groups receive certificates and begin collecting signatures for a potential candidate for deputy. The signature sheets must be submitted to the district election commission by August 1. After that, their thorough verification for authenticity will begin, and a decision on the candidate's registration will be made. In the Vitebsk region, 14 district and one regional territorial election commissions have been formed. They include 195 people - representatives of public associations, political parties, work collectives, and citizens.

Ekaterina Knyazeva - BELTA.