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
- EconomyLithuania set to limit fuel trucks carry from BelarusThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- Politics
- Economy, SecurityBelarus boosts gasoline exports to Russia amid wartime fuel shortagesThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- PoliticsProsecutors forward to court case against four exiled Honest People membersThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- Economy
- PoliticsLithuanian PM: Vilnius to keep protecting CichanoŭskajaThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- PoliticsMinsk envoy blames Belarus’ western neighbors for migrant deathsThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- Politics
- Economy, PoliticsWarsaw sanctions two Polish companies, three Belarusians, citing Russia sanctions evasionThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- PoliticsIrregular border crossings from Belarus into Poland rising since October 1The material is available only to POZIRK+
- PoliticsReprisals: auditor convicted twice, pressure on journalists continuesThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- PoliticsCichanoŭskaja discusses political prisoners with French foreign ministerThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- Politics, SocietyBelarusian police accused of torturing former Afghan officerThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- Politics
- PoliticsPoczobut held in penal colony’s isolation wing amid health declineThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- SecurityUkraine to try Volyn resident for sharing info with Belarus’ secret serviceThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- PoliticsCichanoŭskaja: Belarus gains unprecedented attention in French foreign policyThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- PoliticsSenators approve Belarusian-Russian deal against prosecution abroadThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- PoliticsŁukašenka, Putin discuss regional situationThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- Economy, Security