At least four independent observers representing the Belarusian Popular Front have been denied today access to the polling stations of Mahiliou constituency No. 87.

The bans refer to a number of minor irregularities in the BPF’s delegation papers. In particular, the party’s documents reportedly failed to specify its legal address and phone number. After the errors were corrected, the election officials voiced a different reason: the party’s local office does not occupy the address mentioned in its registration certificate.

Human rights defender Barys Bukhel believes that the reasons for denying BPF observers access to polling stations are fanciful:

“The issue of verifying the party’s legal address is not within the authority of the constituency election commission. The obstacles to observers’ activities have been artificially created by the commission’s chairman Aliaksandr Kazhamiakin and secretary Volha Siniakina. The election officials are employees of the ideology department of the Mahilioukihmvalakno enterprise. Their colleague – head of the enterprise’s official trade union Iahr Stankevich is running in the same constituency. They simply want to help him go to Parliament,“ says Barys Bukhel.

“Human Rights Defenders for Free Elections”