Almost 800 polling stations will be open in the Vitebsk region on February 18
A total of 220 basic and primary level Councils need to be formed in the Vitebsk region, including 192 rural, 21 district, 2 settlement, and 5 city representative bodies, as well as the regional Council. 3,327 candidates for deputies are vying for 3,112 mandates. During the campaign, three contenders for seats in city councils withdrew from the election race.
Approximately 870,000 voters are included in the voting lists. Over three days, about 19.7% of voters received ballots and cast their votes early, which is 1.6 percentage points higher than the analogous data from the 2014 campaign.
On February 18, 798 polling stations will be operating in the Vitebsk region. During their preparation, arrangement, and equipping, even the smallest details were taken into account, for example, those related to ensuring unimpeded access to polling stations for persons with disabilities.
As reported by the regional election commission, about 62% of polling stations are equipped with barrier-free environment elements, with almost 75% of polling places located on the first floors. Measures are being taken to equip buildings where elections will be held with ramps. In addition, volunteer groups, comprising about 1,200 volunteers, are being organized to provide assistance and support to physically weak individuals.
Domestic observers have significantly intensified their activity leading up to the main voting day. As of February 14, a total of over 4,300 people have been accredited by election commissions in this capacity, which already exceeds the number of observers who monitored the election process on the main voting day in 2014 by more than 10%.
According to the Chairperson of the Central Election Commission, Lidiya Yermoshina, the election campaign in the country "is going well, calmly and in an organized manner" and is much more lively in terms of pre-election campaigning, including thanks to street events.
– All the events that are taking place everywhere in the cities, especially in large ones, are taken very seriously by voters. This arouses people's interest in the elections and, I hope, will positively affect voter turnout. After all, we have no other internal resources besides this public work to attract voters, – emphasized Lidiya Yermoshina.
And after the voting, citizens will have the opportunity to relax and participate in numerous cultural and entertainment events of Maslenitsa week, organized everywhere in the regions.