N. Lozovik calls not to rush early voting

February 16, Vitebsk / Diana Kurilo - BELTA /. Secretary of the Central Election Commission for Elections and Referendums, Nikolai Lozovik, urged the organizers of elections to local Councils of Deputies not to rush early voting. He is participating today in a seminar-meeting with the chairmen and secretaries of territorial and district election commissions, heads of departments for organizational, personnel and ideological work of district and city executive committees of the Vitebsk region, a BELTA correspondent reports. The CEC Secretary is convinced that early voting is necessary, as it allows citizens to freely exercise their constitutional right. For example, it is necessary for students who go home on weekends when elections are held, and townspeople often go to their dachas or villages on Saturdays and Sundays, so they should have the opportunity to vote early. However, in rural areas, where few people leave for the weekend, a high percentage of early voters causes bewilderment. "Do not deprive people of the holiday, let them come to the elections, listen to a concert, meet with fellow villagers," he added. Nikolai Lozovik also recalled that changes in electoral legislation affected the entire campaign, including the procedures for early voting and vote counting. Throughout the entire period of early voting, the precinct commission, upon completion of its work, is obliged to post a bulletin reflecting the number of people who participated in the voting. The counting of votes from ballot boxes for early voting will now be carried out separately from ballot boxes with ballots that were cast by voters at home or directly at the polling station, and will be entered into the protocol separately. Elections of deputies of local Councils will be held in the Republic of Belarus on April 25. Early voting will begin on April 20 and will last until April 24. The working hours of precinct commissions for early voting are set from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. -0-