Hasty registration of candidates throws doubt on validity of signatures –election monitors

December 30, Pozirk. The Central Election Commission (CEC) registered the candidates for the January election faster than in the previous presidential elections, giving them the certificates the day after the registration process started, the Human Rights Defenders for Free Elections campaign has said in a report.
As usual, the verification of ballot-access signatures was carried out non-transparently and too hastily, which “raises reasonable doubts about the validity of the announced numbers,” the activists said.
The record-high number of 2.5 million signatures allegedly collected for Alaksandar Łukašenka and the wide gap between him and the other candidates (between 112,000 and 134,000 signatures) is a ploy to sell the claim that the incumbent enjoys broad public support.
Łukašenka’s campaign also has made extensive use of pro-government media, especially district newspapers.
The signatures were collected in an atmosphere of intimidation and coercion, the human rights activists noted.
“The process of collecting signatures excluded the equality of candidates and was aimed at creating the image of support for only one candidate, A. Łukašenka, with the traditional use of administrative resources and coercion of voters to sign for his nomination as a candidate,” the report reads.
Belarus will hold its seventh presidential election from January 21 to 26, with the whole election cycle limited to just three months.
The current campaign is taking place in a purged political landscape amid a new wave of crackdown on regime critics.
Belarus has not held a single free and fair election since 1996 by the standards of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. The government stopped inviting OSCE monitors after the 2020 disputed presidential election marred by fraud and police brutality against peaceful protesters.
The Human Rights Defenders for Free Elections monitoring campaign by the Viasna Human Rights Center and Belarusian Helsinki Committee is working remotely over security threats for independent observers and ongoing crackdown on civil society.

Minsk accredits CSTO observers for presidential election
- Politics, SecurityTwo migrants found dead in Bug RiverThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- Politics, SocietyViasna lawyer criticizes extremist designation for jewelry brandThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- PoliticsOpposition says dialogue with Minsk possible without ŁukašenkaThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- EconomyBelarusians boost rubel term deposits to 62.6 percentThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- SocietyPolish customs halt $380,000 cigarette smuggling operation near Belarus borderThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- SocietyDrug-related sentences rise 2.9 percent in H1The material is available only to POZIRK+
- Economy, PoliticsLithuania not relaxing Belarus sanctions, considering stronger measures – ministerThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- SocietyEmergency ministry deploys elite unit to deal with aftermath of wind stormThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- Economy
- PoliticsRights defenders identify eight more political prisonersThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- PoliticsWarsaw-based Center of Belarusian Solidarity to resume legal assistance to emigrantsThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- Economy, SocietyBelarus to raise subsistence minimum budget on August 1The material is available only to POZIRK+
- SocietyInterior ministry to launch public safety chatbotThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- SocietyWarsaw police arrest Belarusian and Ukrainian over alleged scamThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- Economy, SocietyRussia stops watermelons shipment to BelarusThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- Politics, Security
- Economy
- Security, Society
- PoliticsRights groups designate 11 more political prisonersThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- Economy