Observers will watch vote count from distance of 3 meters - CEC chair

The round table "Election Standards and Improvement of the Electoral Process in Belarus" was held in the House of Representatives on May 18. The participants were highly representative: there were deputies of the Belarusian and European Parliament and Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly, the leadership of the national Central Election Commission and representatives of the OSCE ODIHR, the European Commission for Democracy through Law and the European External Action Service, and so on.

Will the Belarusian authorities be able to hold elections this year so that they are finally liked by the Western observers, Euroradio askd the Chair of the Central Election Commission Lidziya Yarmoshyna.

Euroradio: What is still planned to do for the current election campaign to be well appreciated by the West?

Lidziya Yarmoshyna: Even the famous "Venice Commission" has made a preliminary conclusion that the Belarusian electoral legislation allows for free and democratic elections. But the most important thing here is the law-enforcement practice. Due to the fact that of the 30 OSCE proposals 22 require amendments to the laws and the Constitution, which is not real before the elections (and with regard to the Constitution - not real at all), we have focused on improving law enforcement. The Central Election Commission has already adopted a number of decisions that we can pass before the election campaign and that touch on the most important point - increasing of the tabulation transparency. A vote count procedure has been determined which will allow the observers to observe and see all the actions, performed by the precinct election commission. Also allowed was the presence of observers in the premises of district commissions in the tabulation of the election results. And thirdly, observers have the right to receive information about the number of voters on the voting lists, and those who took part in the vote. Morover, transparency of electoral disputes and proceedings has been increased, and more transparent and discussion-based procedure was provided for formation of the precinct, district and territorial election commissions. We will strictly enforce our recommendations.

Euroradio: You said that during the vote count the commission members will be on three sides of the table with ballots...

Lidziya Yarmoshyna: They may stand on one side only - it all depends on the number of commission members. If it consists of 5 people, then they will occupy only a small part of the table - everything else will be taken by observers.

Euroradio: What observers will see will depend on the distance at which they will stand from the table ...

Lidziya Yarmoshyna: I think that they will be at a distance of three meters - no more.

Euroradio: you said that representatives of deputy candidates in an advisory capacity will be present in the district election commissions. Votes are not counted there - maybe it is better to introduce them into precinct commissions?

Lidziya Yarmoshyna: I thought about it ... You know, in the precinct commissions commission members with an advisory capacity have no authority. He can, in fact, perform only the functions of an observer. But the observer or the trustee are present after all. However in the DECs, they actually have the power, since they are involved in the discussions and in the process of tabulation. They may also affect the work of the commission.