Authorities can't force but recommend strongly to vote early

Central Election Commission secretary Mikalai Lazavik told Euroradio that over 10,000 observers were accredited at the electoral commission of different levels.

At the same time, he noted that this figure was not final. The number of observers will be increased by half on April 25, the actual election day.

Mikalai Lazavik: “On April 24, we expect the majority (of observers) to come. I guess there will be a lot of them. During the last elections, there were over 19000 observers. I think it will not be less this year”.

Despite a huge number of observers, the early voting procedure causes many complaints from both the opposition politicians and human rights activists. Lawyer Valyantsin Stefanovich reckons that early voting is a totally negative practice.

Valyantsin Stefanovich: “Firtsly, the practice shows that early voting is used in order to ensure the required turnout. Thus, this is how an elegant victory is ensured”.

In order to support his argument, he mentioned the facts of the forced early voting.

Valyantsin Stefanovich: “There is a lot of evidence that students are forced to vote early. Almost all the soldiers and residents of dormitories for workers also are forced to vote early. But under our laws, election is a volunatry affair. I can go to the polls or not if I don't want too”.

As for the forced early voting, Mikalai Lazavik is strongly confident that nobody can force anyone to vote early. At the same time, he admitted that "exlanatory work" is carried out among students in order to encourage them to vote early.

Mikalai Lazavik: “Nobody can force any citizen -- a student, a worker, a professor or a public servant -- to vote early. But we recommend strongly to carry out explanatory and organizational work among students in order to create conditions for early voting by such a mobile category of citizens”.

Lazavik also added young workers who live in dormitories and and all those who like getting out of the city to fish or stay at the country house for the weekend to the list of "mobile categories".

He describes the early voting procedure as absolutely positive without any single minus. He says the talks about falsifications during the polls are just allegations, especially now that amendments to the electoral laws were passed.

But human rights lawyer Stefanovich does not buy it.

Valyantsin Stefanovich: “Observer can be present during the sealing of the ballot box and during the early voting. But when the polling station is closed, nobody knows what is happening there”.

Lazavik often points to Europe and the United States where the early voting procedure is used. But Stefanovich says in return that Ukraine abolished early voting, while Russia did not wish to introduce it so that certain candidate could not use the administrative resources.