Belarus opens polling stations for early voting

February 20, Pozirk. Belarusian election officials this afternoon opened polling stations for early voting in the elections for the lower house of the National Assembly and the local councils.

The government organized the elections in an environment of fear and reprisals, human rights activists said.

Yesterday, police and internal troops tightened security, providing round-the-clock duty at all polling stations.

The main election day is February 25, but the central election commission allowed voters to go to the polls earlier without explaining why Sunday is inconvenient for them.

The country has not held a single free and fair election by standards of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe since 1996.