CEC fails to respond on the merits, says observer in Slonim
Ivan Bedka, an observer at polling station No. 10 in Slonim, Hrodna reigon, complained to the Central Election Commission, saying that the election commission members were mainly teachers of the school that hosted the polling station, with the head teacher being its chairman. There were also two observers who were employees of the same school. Ivan Bedka stressed that, according to the parents of some of the pupils, the teachers asked the children to tell their parents to vote early. The observer also argues that the results were not announced after the vote count, but the figures were whispered to the commission secretary.
An official reply signed by the CEC head Lidziya Yarmoshyna provides no specific assessment of the allegations. Moreover, the last paragraph of Ms. Yarmoshyna’s letter says that “the preparation for the next election will focus on the observance of counting procedures and providing conditions for monitoring the process.”