The registration phase for presidential candidates begins this week
The day before, the Central Election Commission released data on the number of valid signatures in support of presidential candidates' nominations. So far, seven contenders have submitted signature sheets, and it appears this number will remain unchanged until July 4, when the document submission for registration concludes.
The teams of these seven contenders also collected signatures in the Vitebsk region. The results of their work, including the verification and determination of the number of voters who signed in support of nominations by territorial election commissions, were summarized at a meeting of the regional commission for the election of the President on June 30.
As noted by the chairman of the regional election commission, Dmitry Khoma, the events of this stage of the campaign were conducted in strict accordance with electoral legislation. Observers were present at the commission meetings, with the exception of two districts. Minor technical errors in the preparation of protocols were promptly rectified, and no complaints or appeals were received by the regional election commission.
During the verification process, signatures were invalidated primarily based on responses from cash settlement centers and the citizenship and migration departments of internal affairs bodies. Additionally, if further questions arose, commission members consulted a number of other organizations. The official documents specify the grounds for invalidating signatures. In several districts, all signatures submitted by the contenders' teams were recognized as valid.
Thus, in the Vitebsk region, the picture of electoral support for the contenders' nominations officially looks as follows. The initiative group of Alexander Lukashenko worked in all districts, and nearly 216,000 signatures were recognized as valid. Representatives of Viktor Babariko worked in 8 districts (approximately 11,500 signatures), Valery Tsepkalo – in 15 districts (over 3,600 signatures), Sergey Cherechnya – in 9 districts (18,700 signatures), Anna Kanopatskaya – in 3 districts (over 7,600 signatures), Andrey Dmitriev – in 17 districts (10,700 signatures), and Svetlana Tikhanovskaya – in 10 districts (10,700 signatures).
The signature collection took place from May 21 to June 19. Then, their authenticity was verified by district commissions within ten days after the submission of signature sheets. Potential candidates must submit the necessary documents for registration to the Central Election Commission by July 4, during the nomination stage. This will take place from July 5 to July 14. After that, the pre-election campaign period will begin.