According to Belarusian laws, snap election can be held in the event of the voluntary resignation of the president, the removal or dismissal of the president from office by parliament. The election must be held at least 30 days, and maximum – 70 days after the vacancy occurs. In the current situation, election preparation can take from 45 to 60 days.
There are several political and technical issues with the elections in Belarus. Freedom of speech and assembly was brutally suppressed in Belarus for many years. And in the last elections, there were many falsifications and violations, such as the denial of observers. But many problems will be resolved by themselves if there is the political will to hold fair elections.
There is more good news: the main question is not how the Constitution and the Electoral Code are written. The problem is how they are applied. This means that to solve the main problems, it is enough to change by-laws (regulations and instructions of the CEC), and not entire laws. Trust in the electoral authorities is also essential, and elections should be held not for the authorities or candidates but the people. Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya's office has prepared a list of things to do. This document was created based on recommendations of Belarusian professionals with experience in international election observation.
10 principles of new elections:
1. Give observers access to all stages of elections: from the nomination of members of election commissions to the counting of votes.
2. Increase the priority of local communities in the composition of election commissions.
3. Change the purpose of the commissions’ work from searching for invalid signatures to searching for valid ones.
4. Interpret doubtful cases in favor of applicants and voters who gave their support signatures.
5. Verify signatures publicly.
6. Develop a more detailed form of protocols to record received, issued and filled in ballots at all stages and for all voting forms (early, at home, at the polling station).
7. Limit early voting and allow observers to perform their functions without hindrance and interruption during the period of early voting, and/or equip polling stations with the necessary means for 24-hour video recording.
8. Introduce the rule of open and transparent counting of votes: each ballot is shown to all commission members and all observers while loudly announced for whom the vote was cast.
9. Introduce a rule to post protocols without delay. And create a technical solution so that all protocols are published on the CEC website.
10. Do not prevent observers from being accredited and observing elections. All registered observers must be admitted to the polling stations in compliance with preventive measures during the COVID-19 pandemic. Allow them to record audio and video at polling stations without violating the secrecy of voting.
Office of Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya is convinced that introducing these rules into the regulations and instructions of the new CEC will allow fair and free presidential elections in Belarus.
Answers to the main questions on the Concept of new elections
1. Is the improvement of by-laws is all the changes that will concern elections?
Of course, all election problems cannot be solved by changing the by-laws. Belarus needs a thorough reform of the electoral legislation, but this is a matter to be resolved in the future. We are not ready to entrust the amendment of laws to a pocket parliament. If the current government does not comply with the laws in force, we cannot believe that they will adhere to the new Constitution or laws.
We know that many would like to see candidates' representatives on the commissions, but the current laws do not provide this. Reform of the electoral legislation will be our priority, but now our goal is to hold new elections within existing laws. This will help our country avoid any accusations of lawlessness. Everything will be done according to the law, honestly and transparently.
Election commissions, and especially the CEC, will play a significant role in this. Lidiya Ermoshina and her team have long lost the trust of citizens. They cannot and must not hold new elections. We consult with Belarusian experts who have vast international experience. Unlike Lukashenka and Ermoshina, we do not control and do not appoint them. Both they and we will do our best to ensure that our citizens have fair elections they deserve.
2. What is the result of increasing the priority of local communities in the commissions?
Recent months have shown that the solidarity of local communities is a vital element in the fight against the illegitimate regime. Residents of houses, yards united to protect their rights. Citizens have shown that they are ready to take matters into their own hands. We believe that elections in Belarus should be held for citizens. Who, if not citizens, can ensure the integrity of the process? They will be held accountable for honest vote counting in front of their neighbors and friends. This will serve as a guarantee of truly fair elections.
3. What does it mean to “change the purpose of the commissions' work from searching for invalid signatures to searching for valid ones”?
During the previous elections, the commissions did everything possible to find reasons not to register candidates. Their task was to find as many “doubtful” and “invalid” signatures as possible. In general, the commissions were looking for an excuse not to trust citizens and candidates. It is necessary to fundamentally change the signature verification approach: look for valid signatures and not consider them unreliable. Doubtful cases should be interpreted in favor of the applicants and citizens who gave their signatures. There will be mistakes when collecting signatures; attempts to falsify signatures are not excluded, but this should not be a reason to initially treat the citizens of our country with distrust.
4. Why check signatures publicly?
Verifying signatures is a time consuming and technically complex process. For example, we do not know who and how they examined the signatures. We are not at all sure that such an examination was carried out. Such doubts arise due to the closed nature of the process. If observers have access to this process, doubts will disappear by themselves.
5. How to maintain a system for registering ballots so that there are no falsifications?
Ballot counting protocols and tabulation sheets serve one important purpose — they create confidence that each ballot was cast by a voter. Each protocol must check three key parameters: 1) the number of ballots held by the commission; 2) the number of ballots received and submitted by citizens; 3) the number of signatures on the voter list. Detailed protocols for all forms of voting will allow you to monitor the commissions' activities and determine where errors or violations could be made.
6. Why can't early voting be canceled and not just shortened?
Early voting is provided for by the electoral code — it cannot be canceled without changing the laws. But it is important to understand that early voting is not a problem in itself. Problems are created by the pressure to vote early and the associated rigging. Previous elections give grounds to believe that ballots were added to early voting boxes. This can be eliminated through better access for observers, technical improvements in ballot box sealing and video recording. But the main thing is that if you do not force anyone to vote early and do not try to win elections using falsifications, then early voting will not be a problem.
7. How to make sure that everyone can see the protocols at their polling stations?
In previous elections, protocols were often posted so that citizens could not see them. Summarizing the results of the election did not include the publication of the results for individual polling stations. This gave the impression that the commissions had something to hide. There will be nothing to hide in the new elections, and all protocols will be published both at the polling stations and on the CEC website. We are confident that the IT community will be happy to help its fellow citizens with a technical solution.
