MINSK, Jan 22 (NNN-XINHUA) — The Belarusian Central Election Commission (CEC) said 7.81 percent of eligible voters cast their ballots on the first of early voting in the presidential elections.
The turnout in the Brest region stood at 8.95 percent, 7.45 percent in the Vitebsk region, 7.01 percent in the Gomel region, 6.08 percent in the Grodno region, 8.52 percent in the Minsk region, 7.25 percent in the Mogilev region, and 8.54 percent in the city of Minsk, the CEC said on Tuesday.
Throughout the country 5,325 polling stations have been organized for elections. The number of voters stands at about 6.9 million.
The Belarusian CEC also reported that over 44,000 national observers are overseeing the voting.
Five candidates, including incumbent President Alexander Lukashenko, have been registered for the presidential elections.
His rivals are the leader of the Liberal Democratic Party Oleg Gaidukevich, entrepreneur Anna Kanopatskaya, first secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party Sergey Syrankov, and leader of the Republican Party of Labor and Justice Alexander Khizhnyak.
The main voting day is Jan. 26. — NNN-XINHUA
