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Yarmoshyna says she hopes that atmosphere of parliamentary elections will be “calm, reasonable, trouble-free”

Lidziya Yarmoshyna, head of the central election commission, told reporters in Minsk on Tuesday that she hoped that the atmosphere of the September 18-23 House of Representatives elections would be “calm, reasonable and trouble-free.” “The state will only benefit from this,” she said.

Ms. Yarmoshyna noted that voters would hardly be queuing up at polling stations on Tuesday, the first day of early voting. “People are slow to act, but I think retired people will go to polls. They like to vote early,” she said.

She noted that some 25 to 27 percent had cast their ballots during the early voting period in previous elections. “In this regard, much depends on competition in the district,” she said. “In 2004, parliamentary elections were held simultaneously with a referendum and this stimulated voter turnover. At present not all may have already dug their potatoes and therefore this will also stimulate early voting.”

Ms. Yarmoshyna also said that out of the 27,000 ballot boxes used in the elections, 1,600, or about six percent, were transparent. //BelaPAN