You do it again, and you're out - one day at a polling station

Early voting in the 2015 elections began on October 6. It is to last 5 days. The stations open at 10:00 and close - at 19:00, with a break from 14:00 to 16:00. In everything else it is all like on the day of voting. I go to one of the Minsk stations to see everything with my own eyes. The polling sttaion is in the  "Children and Youth School of Olympic Reserve in Table Tennis", in 16 Prytytskaha Str. And not one, but three - the 109th, 110th and 111th. All in one place - three stations, three tables with red tablecloths, three ballot boxes and three committee chairmen.

 

9:50

I come to the station not to miss a single voter. My strategic goal is to count them and compare with the reports of the commission, posted at the end of each day. A young policewoman is sitting at the table near the door, there is noise coming from behind the closed doors. There come observers from BHC (they only observe at the 109-m station). Doors open only at 10:00. We go in the room with boxes full of people who are members of the commissions. We can only guess what they were doing prior to our arrival.

 

10:00

I ask the member of the commission from the 109th station if I can work with them that day. Conversation becomes unpredictable:

- Good afternoon. I am a journalist. Today, I will be with you at the station the whole day. I would like to occasionally take photos, communicate with people in the corridor.

- Well, you know ... This is undesirable, of course.

- I will do it only outside. I have an official accreditation. I wil ask people about impressions, why they are voting early.

- You know, this is also undesirable.

 

10:20

People come to vote. For the first 20 minutes in all three stations only 10 people voted. Half of them are youth. Some of them are voting for the first time - members of commission are greeting them. But there is no feeling of the well-planned process -- people are coming one by one, without queuing.

 

10:40

A radio appears at the station -- it was brought by one of the commission members. They turned it on. From the speakers comes a merry song:

"Where are your hands?

Raise your hands and let's dance!"

The brain replaces the last word with "vote."

11:00

Twenty people have voted. And I get into a scandal. Well, not a big scandal - just a small one. The observer from the BHC monitoring the station 109 suddenly recognizes one of the voters. She speaks out loud: "But you already voted yesterday!" People in the room start whispering -- members of the commission are calling somewhere, unfamiliar people start coming into the room. The identified woman gets a ballot paper, she votes and runs out the door. I follow her. I only  catch up with her at the steps, I ask questions, she gives me a cold shoulder. Humiliated, I go back to the room (the whole thing happened within about 30 seconds), at the door I come across a member of the Election Commission from the 111th station. She says:

- You do it again, and you're out!

- What exactly?

- You have no right to hassle the people!

- I just talked with her.

- You have no right to do it!

- Listen, I'm a journalist. Talking with people is my job. In principle, you do not even need to be a journalist to do it, everyone can talk to people.

- You do not have the right for it! You do it once again, and you're out!

The things quiet down only when I suggest we call from my cell phone Lidziya Yarmoshyna and ask her what I can and cannot do. I also inform the person that I will only leave the station if accompanied by police. It seems we'll not get along with the commissioner very well. Member of the Commission makes a call, but instead of the police officer to the station comes a person from the Ministry of Emergency Situations asking if everything is okay. He then leaves and later appears in our play several times more.

 

11:30

People come to the station in big numbers -- more than 50 people have voted

 

12:00

The total number of voters at the three sites within two hours is 63 persons. Now it's mostly pensioners or people close to retirement age. There are very few young people. I really cannot say that these people have been forced to go to the polls.

 

12:20

Number of voters is going down. I am afraid to talk with them. What if they take me out with the police? A famous song is playing on the radio about "the sun shining same for all," and "there, outside, being a real life." You can't really argue with that.

 

12:30

"We congratulate you and wish you to always come to vote," member of the Commission has once again come across a young person, first time voter. Congratulations sound absolutely sincere and from the heart.

 

12:45

An unusual couple comes into the room where the polling stations are. A man about 40 years old with his mother. She greets all the members of the commission, pulling the son by the hand then forcing him to sit on a chair and loudly says:

"Look! I caught him at the bus stop. He was on his way to work. I will come to vote in the evening -- forgot my passport. Let the son vote. You should vote for Lukashenka only, only for him! "

Members of all the commissions nod approvingly.

 

13:00

Twenty people voted in the last hour. I mark everyone who enters the room in a notebook. Then I watch them receive a ballot paper. There are not many people -- it's quite easy to do.

 

13:20

A policeman with a baton and handcuffs enters the station. I think he's come for me. But he has not -- he is going to the red table, pulls out a passport. the police officers also vote. For whom, I wonder.

 

14:00

During the break, observers and us are asked to leave the station. By my count, in four hours (from 10:00 to 14:00) in the stations 109, 110 and 111 voted in total 105 people. The BHC observers say that in previous days fewer people came  -- the number of voters is clearly growing every day. There should be more of them after  lunch.

15:45

I coming earlier than before the opening of the stations -- in case I see something. Behind the door I hear voices, the police woman nearby is reading a book. Occasionally, members of the Commission go out the room for a smoke. Neither I nor the observers are allowed inside.

 

16:00

I enter the room, looking first of all at the ballot boxes. Before the break the gaps there were sealed with strips of paper. In one of the boxes (from station 110) I notice a broken seal. I am poiting to it with my hand for the observer to see. The committee members look away.

 

16:15

After the break, the number of voters greatly increased. They come about once a minute. Total number of voters has already reached 120 people.

 

16:30

The flow of people. I note them down one by one.

 

17:00

From 16:00 to 17:00 came to vote as much as 70 people. This is the record number of the day yet. Observers say that this did not happen before. As of 17:00, according to my calculations, 175 people voted. Mostly, middle-aged people. There are realatively few pensioners and students.

 

17:30

There are fewer people now, but they keep coming. I already counted 200. Members of the Commission, it seems, have got used to my presence. But I do not abuse it. I want to stay until the end of the day and count all the voters.

 

18:00

All the 236 people have been noted down in my notebook. One gets the impression that I was wasting my time. People actually vote actively. In May, I went to observe the presidential elections in Poland. I did not see it there even on the day of voting.

 

18:30

A pensioner came, who said that she wanted to vote using her pensioner ID. Observers explain that this is not a violation. If she is listed, and the document has a photo, then everything is fine. The Commission has full authority to issue a ballot paper.

 

19:00

Finally the day has ended. I almost do not care what I see in the final report. In my notebook there are exactly 289 dashes -- this is how many voters, according to my calculations, voted on that day, October 8, in the stations 109, 110 and 111 in 16 Prytytskaha Street.

The Commision members silently hang on the stands the protocols of that day, which have the number of issued voting ballots. At the 109th precinct - 152, 110th - 140, 111th - 82. Total - 374. It turns out that I simply did not notice 85 people, although I did not leave the station for a minute. Moreover, my vision is not perfect either.