The five days of early voting began in Belarus on January 21, as part of what authorities sell as presidential election.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
During the previous elections, human rights activists reported numerous instances of coercion to vote early, mainly involving students and public sector employees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Nevertheless, the official final turnout in the February 2024 parliamentary and local elections was the lowest since 2000 (73.09 percent).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, early voting turnout, as reported by the Central Election Commission (CEC), was the highest ever (41.71 percent). It was higher only in the 2022 constitutional referendum (42.93 percent) marred by allegations of coercion and vote rigging.<\/p>\n\n\n