2018 Belarusian municipal elections

XXVIII Convocation Republic of Belarus Local Councils of Deputies elections

←  2014 18 February 2018 2024 →
Turnout	77.23%
Party Independent Communist Party of Belarus Republican Party of Labour and Justice   Party Social Democratic Party of Popular Accord Liberal Democratic Party Belarusian Socialist Sporting Party   Party Agrarian Party (Belarus) Belarusian Patriotic Party
Results of Local Councils of Deputies elections

Invitation to elections. Text: "18 February 2018. Republic of Belarus Local Councils of Deputies elections."

28th Convocation Republic of Belarus deputies to Local Councils of Deputies elections are elections to Belarus Local Councils to Deputies elections conducted on 18 February 2018. Electoral campaign started in November 2017. Citizens of the respective administrative subdivision elect the council for a term of four years under procedure set within the Electoral Code of Republic of Belarus.

Deputies of House of Representatives, and deputies to Local Councils of Deputies elections are conducted in single-mandate constituencies.

Local Councils' deputies elections have no turnout benchmark, conducted in one voting, where candidate having plurality vote wins.

All Belarusian voters are entitled to vote preliminary, with no official confirmation of reasons of inability to come to voting premises in the main voting day required. The voter is not required to show internal passport: to get ballot one suffice to have any identification document (driving licence, student ticket and so on). Agitation is allowed in the preliminary voting period. CEC does not invite foreign observers, apart from some representatives of the diplomatic corps, to municipal elections, as it is not provided in the legislation.

General Information

On 14 November 2017 President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko signed decree #410 "On appointment of Local Councils of Deputies elections". ^[1]

Out of 18,111 deputies of 1,309 Local Councils of Deputies most represent Rural Councils (1,152 Councils):

• Rural Councils— 1,152 councils and 13,225 seats;
• Town Councils— 8 councils and 98 seats;
• Local City Councils— 14 councils and 242 seats;
• Regional City Councils – 10 councils and 370 seats;
• District Councils— 118 councils and 3,787 seats;
• Regional Councils and Minsk-city Council of Deputies— 7 councils and 409 seats. ^[2]

Electoral system

The elections were held under plurality vote. A citizen of Republic of Belarus of 18 years of age are entitled to be elected a deputy to Local Council of Deputies. Citizens living or working on the territory of the respective Local Council of Deputies are entiteled to be nominated as candidates. This right as well implies to citizens working in organizations related to fullmilment of needs of residents or social development of the territory of the respective Local Council of Deputies, though such organization located on the territory of the other Local Council of Deputies. A political party is entitled to nominate only one candidate to deputy amongst its members within single House of Representatives or respective Local Council of Deputies electoral district. A candidate receiving most votes is considered as elected to the Local Council of Deputies. In case of one-candidate election, such candidate is considered elected if one receives more than half of votes given.

Nomination procedure

Legislation sets a number of requirements towards citizens willing to nominate themselves as a candidate to deputy to Local Councils of Deputies:

• Republic of Belarus or Russian Federation nationality;
• 18 years of age;
• residence or job on the territory of the Local Council of Deputies;
• clean record.

A citizen is entitled to nominate oneself in one of electoral districts of the Local Council of Deputies of each territorial level (Regional, District, and Rural Council of Deputies).

Nationals of Russian Federeation with permanent residence on the territory of Republic of Belarus are entiteled be nominated as candidates to deputies of Local Councils of Deputies.

Citizens, working in organizations related to fullmilment of needs of residents or social development of the territory of the respective Local Council of Deputies, though such organization located on the territory of the other Local Council of Deputies, are entitled to nominate oneself as a candidate to deputy of Local Council of Deputies, even having no residence or job on the territory of such Council. Such legal norm is usually implied to the employees of organizations located in cities that are the centers of several subdivisions. Such rule does not imply towards political parties and NGOs.

Candidate registration

Out of 22,278 registered candidates to deputy 21,227 (95.28%) were not political party members, while political parties nominated 1,051 candidates (4.72%), with most of party candidates nominated by the Communist Party (1.84%) and Liberal-Democratic Party (1.02%). Political party members are mostly nominated to deputies of Mnsk-city, Regional and District Councils of Deputies.

Registration of public interest groups on voters signature collection by candidates to deputies of 28 Convocation Local Councils as of 25 December 2017: ^[3]

Data on registered candidates to deputies of Local Councils: [4]
Party	Local Councils of Deputies
	Minsk-city	Regional	District	City (regional)	City (local)	Town	Rural	Total registered	in %
Independent	118	555	4,473	631	288	101	15,115	21,281	95.28
Communist Party of Belarus	42	25	189	16	0	1	128	401	1.82
Liberal Democratic Party	49	110	11	48	0	1	0	219	0.99
Republican Party of Labour and Justice	12	18	72	18	1	0	52	173	0.79
United Civic Party of Belarus	7	29	11	21	0	0	1	69	0.31
Belarusian Left Party "A Just World"	6	25	5	22	0	0	1	59	0.27
Belarusian Social Democratic Party (Assembly)	5	23	6	12	0	0	2	54	0.25
BPF Party	2	4	4	6	2	0	5	23	0.10
Social Democratic Party of Popular Accord	0	2	3	1	0	0	9	15	0.07
Belarusian Christian Democracy	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	30	0.01
Party of Freedom and Progress	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	14	0.05
Belarusian Socialist Sporting Party	6	0	0	1	0	0	0	7	0.01
Belarusian Patriotic Party	2	0	1	0	0	0	0	3	0.01
Belarusian Green Party	2	0	0	1	0	0	0	3	0.01
Agrarian Party (Belarus)	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0.01
Всего	253	791	4,775	777	297	103	15,313	22,289	100

Voting

In a period of 15 days before elections, voting stations commissions represent the cititens the voters lists. Voters are entitled to seek for liquidation of mistakes in the lists, including seeking for such liquidations in trials. Preliminary voting for voters not able to stay in their residence location in the voting day is organized 5 days before the elections date. Voters, unable to come to voting station in the election day can be provided with voting on their immediate location.

Preliminary election was held on 13–17 February 2018. According to CEC data, 34.95% voters took part in the preliminary election until its final day. ^[5] In the main voting day, voting stations worked from 8 am till 8 pm, and, according to official CEC data, the turnover reached 5.3 mln voters (77.2%) till the moment of voting stations closure. ^[6] Out of 18,111 districts, one electoral district of Yelʹsk District of Gomel Region failed to hold elections due to the only candidate's detention for receiving a bribe. ^[7]

Fraud

789 observers of "For just elections" campaign" participated in the elections monitoring, 114 of who monitored the process of preliminary voting, covering 54 voting stations in 22 settlements, including Minsk. Upong the results of monitoring, the campaigns observers concluded the official results of deputies to Local Councils elections do not represent real citizens' volition. ^[8] Moreover, in several voting stations observers were prohibited to take video and photoshots of vote-counting process in the day of elections, reasoning such restrictions with only journalists being entitled to do so. ^{[9] [10]}

Elections boycott

Conservative Christian Party – BPF did not participate in 2018 municipal elections. Party leadership informed the party did not will to create the regime bogus of so-called "elections". Meanwhile, party conducted electoral control of the process. First of all it counted the number of people coming to vote to show regime in the light of its lies existing as a fact of life. ^[11]

Belarusian Social Democratic Assembly, led by Stanislav Shushkevich, did not participate in 2018 municipal elections. It's a principal position of the party, having been consistently ignoring several electoral campaigns in a row. "Results of the previous elections, when government "turned off" several democratic candidates, show us we do everything right. So, how many such elections we need for everyone to finally understand that there are no free elections in Belarus?! BSDA party understands it's a vain deal, thus it did not participate in the elections at all",— BSDA leader Stanislav Shushkevich told on 19 February.

Mikola Statkevich, leader of Belarusian Social Democratic Party (People's Assembly), told municipal elections topic is not worth discussing. "This municipal elections do not decide anything, no vote is count, and people still do not believe the government. We have many young party members, and we didn't oppose them to try their hand and educate themselves in these elections privatelly. This is the best way of learning. However, as the previous "elections" showed, to go here and there to ask for a piece of power is humiliating and lost case. Supporters of "peacefull change" were not given a seat even in any rural council",- Statkevich told.

Belarusian Labour Party, and Republican Party did not participate in elections.

Results

General

According to voting results, out of 18,110 deputies to Local Councils of Deputies elect, vast majority or 17,652 deputies are not members to any political party, and only 457 deputies are members to political parties consisting 2.5%. The most represented parties in Local Councils are supporters of Alexander Lukashenko: Communist Party (309 seats) and RPLJ (127 seats). Among opposition no candidate managed to win the vote, only 4 members of Liberal Democratic Party positioning itself as constructive opposition managed to succeed. ^[12] 21 national of Russian Federation managed to be elected as 28th Convocation Local Council Deputy. http://rec.gov.by/sites/default/files/pdf/Elections-MS28-elect_59-60.pdf Archived 21 February 2018 at the Wayback Machine

The elections resulted in turnover over 77%, with 35% voted preliminarily. In a single electoral district of Yelʹsk District Council of Deputies of Gomel Region, elections did not take place, due to the only candidate's withdrawal a day before the elections. 48%of deputies elected are women, 56%elected to Local Councils before, one out of three works in science, education, and healthcare sphere, and one out of five works in agriculture. 4% deputies are under 31, and 2%represent political parties. ^[13]

Data on elected deputies to Local Councils
Party	Local Councils of Deputies
	Minsk-city	Regional	District	City (regional)	City (local)	Town	Rural	Total elected	in %
Independent	40	335	3,548	348	242	97	13,053	17,653	97.48
Communist Party of Belarus	6	9	161	9		1	123	309	1.71
Republican Party of Labour and Justice	5	5	64	9			44	127	0.70
Social Democratic Party of Popular Accord		2	3	1			5	11	0.06
Liberal Democratic Party	1	1	1	2				5	0.03
Belarusian Socialist Sporting Party	3			1				4	0.02
Belarusian Patriotic Party	1							1	0.01
Agrarian Party (Belarus)	1							1	0.01
Total	57	352	3,776	370	242	98	13,225	18,110	100

Brest region

Elections to Brest Regional Council of Deputies

Party	Votes	%	Seats	+/-
Independent	586,056	76.45	54	3
Republican Party of Labour and Justice	32,502	4.24	2	2
Communist Party of Belarus	18,087	2.36	1	1
Belarusian Social Democratic Assembly	9,078	1.18	0
Liberal Democratic Party	4,336	0.57	0
Belarusian Left Party "A Just World"	4,273	0.56	0
United Civic Party of Belarus	3,664	0.48	0
BPF Party	1,018	0.13	0
None of the above	107,250	13.99	-	-
Invalid ballots	14,830	-	-	-
Total	781,387	100	57	0
Registered/turnout	982,014	79.57	-	-
Source: Брестская ОИК (In Russian — Brest REC)

Vitebsk Region

Elections to Vitebsk Regional Council of Deputies

Party	Votes	%	Seats	+/-
Independent	574,538	79.95	58
Liberal Democratic Party	26,566	3.70	0
Communist Party of Belarus	21,069	2.93	2
United Civic Party of Belarus	11,534	1.61	0
Belarusian Left Party "A Just World"	3,921	0.55	0
Republican Party of Labour and Justice	2,384	0.33	0
BPF Party	950	0.13	0
None of the above	90,728	12.63	-	-
Invalid ballots	13,066	-	-	-
Total	731,690	100	60	0
Registered/turnout	865,282	84.49	-	-
Source: Витебская ОИК (In Russian — Vitebsk REC)

Gomel Region

Elections to Gomel Regional Council of Deputies

Party	Votes	%	Seats	+/-
Independent	712,121	81.37	53	6
Communist Party of Belarus	48,119	5.50	3	2
Liberal Democratic Party	45,307	5.18	0
Republican Party of Labour and Justice	34,550	3.95	2	2
Social Democratic Party of Popular Accord	21,209	2.42	2	2
Belarusian Left Party "A Just World"	7,749	0.89	0
United Civic Party of Belarus	6,153	0.70	0
None of the above	76,100	8.70	-	-
Against the only candidate	16,293		-	-
Invalid ballots	10,742	-	-	-
Total	885,950	100	60	0
Registered/turnout	1,097,164	80.75	-	-
Source: Гомельская ОИК (In Russian — Gomel REC)

Grodno Region

Elections to Grodno Regional Council of Deputies

Party	Votes	%	Seats	+/-
Independent	483,023	80.21	53
Liberal Democratic Party	14,901	2.47	1	1
Belarusian Left Party "A Just World"	4,342	0.72	0
United Civic Party of Belarus	3,746	0.62	0
None of the above	96,205	15.97	-	-
Invalid ballots	8,209	-	-	-
Total	610,426	100	60	0
Registered/turnout	764,601	79.84	-	-
Source: Гродненская ОИК (In Russian — Grodno REC)

Minsk Region

Elections to Minsk Regional Council of Deputies

Party	Votes	%	Seats	+/-
Independent	696,676	80.79	58
Communist Party of Belarus	29,767	3.45	2	1
Liberal Democratic Party	15,433	1.79	0
Belarusian Social Democratic Party (Assembly)	5,475	0.63	0
BPF Party	905	0.10	0
Republican Party of Labour and Justice	704	0.08	0	1
Belarusian Left Party "A Just World"	571	0.07	0
United Civic Party of Belarus	483	0.06	0
None of the above	112,335	13.03	-	-
Invalid ballots	13,965	-	-	-
Total	876,334	100	60	0
Registered/turnout	1,123,094	78.03	-	-
Source: Минская ОИК (In Russian — Minsk REC)

Mogilev Region

Elections to Mogilev Regional Council of Deputies

Party	Votes	%	Seats	+/-
Independent	562,667	84.94	54	3
Communist Party of Belarus	13,522	2.04	1
Liberal Democratic Party	10,205	1.54	0
United Civic Party of Belarus	7,093	1.07	0
Belarusian Left Party "A Just World"	2,288	0.35	0
Belarusian Social Democratic Party (Assembly)	2,068	0.31	0
Republican Party of Labour and Justice	1,502	0.23	0
BPF Party	861	0.13	0
None of the above	61,988	9.36	-	-
Invalid ballots	9,445	-	-	-
Total	671,839	100	55	3
Registered/turnout	813,225	82.61	-	-
Source: Могилёвская ОИК (In Russian — Mogilev REC)

Minsk

Elections to Minsk-City Council of Deputies

Party	Votes	%	Seats	+/-
Independent	408,608	55.10	40	8
Communist Party of Belarus	105,290	14.20	6	1
Liberal Democratic Party	54,852	7.40	1	1
Republican Party of Labour and Justice	54,342	7.33	5	3
Belarusian Socialist Sporting Party	28,262	3.81	3	1
Agrarian Party (Belarus)	10,954	1.48	1	1
Belarusian Patriotic Party	6,223	0.84	1	1
United Civic Party of Belarus	4,619	0.62	0
Belarusian Left Party "A Just World"	3,884	0.52	0
Belarusian Social Democratic Party (Assembly)	2,303	0.31	0
Belarusian Green Party	2,117	0.29	0
BPF Party	1,554	0.21	0
None of the above	64,840	8.74	-	-
Invalid ballots	4,640	-	-	-
Total	789,027	100	57	0
Registered/turnout	1,277,388	61.77	-	-
Source: Минская ГИК (In Russian — Minsk CEC)

Links

• Центральная избирательная комиссия по проведению выборов и референдумов Республики Беларусь. Выборы в местные Советы депутатов—2018 (In Russian — Central electoral commission on elections and referendums of Republic of Belarus. 2018 Local Councils of Deputies Elections) Archived 1 December 2020 at the Wayback Machine
• Сведения о составе избранных депутатов местных Советов депутатов двадцать восьмого созыва (In Russian — Data on deputies elected to 28th Convocation Local Councils) Archived 21 February 2018 at the Wayback Machine
• Информация о выборах в местные Советы депутатов (In Russian — Information on Local Councils of Deputies elections Archived 5 June 2020 at the Wayback Machine

References

1. "УКАЗ ПРЕЗИДЕНТА РЕСПУБЛИКИ БЕЛАРУСЬ от 14 ноября 2017г. №410 «О назначении выборов в местные Советы депутатов». (In Russian — PRESIDENT OF BELARUS DECREE as of 14 November 2017 #410 "On appointment of Local Councils of Deputies elections"" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 9 October 2020. Retrieved 27 February 2021.
2. "СВЕДЕНИЯ о количестве местных Советов депутатов и числе образованных избирательных округов по выборам депутатов местных Советов депутатов двадцать восьмого созыва (In Russian — DATA on number of Local Councils of Deputies and established electoral districts for Deputies to 28th convocation Local Councils of Deputies elections)" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 12 September 2020. Retrieved 27 February 2021.
3. "СВЕДЕНИЯ о регистрации инициативных групп граждан по сбору подписей избирателей в поддержку лиц, предлагаемых для выдвижения кандидатами в депутаты местных Советов депутатов двадцать восьмого созыва (In Russian — DATA on registration of public interest groups on voters signature in support of people suggested to be nominated as candidates to deputies of 28th Convocation Local Councils of Deputies collection)" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 14 June 2018. Retrieved 27 February 2021.
4. "Сведения о партийности кандидатов в депутаты местных Советов депутатов двадцать восьмого созыва (In Russian — Data on party membership of candidates to deputies of 28th Convocation Local Councils of Deputies" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 November 2018. Retrieved 27 February 2021.
5. "Сведения о ходе досрочного голосования по выборам в местные Советы депутатов двадцать восьмого созыва (In Russian — Information on the process of preliminary election within 28th Convocation Local Councils of Deputies Elections)" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 28 August 2019. Retrieved 27 February 2021.
6. "Сведения о количестве избирателей, принявших участие в выборах депутатов местных Советов депутатов двадцать восьмого созыва (In Russian — Data on number of voters participated in election of 28th Convocation Local Councils of Deputies)" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 14 June 2018. Retrieved 27 February 2021.
7. Скандал в Ельске: выборы не состоялись из-за того, что кандидата-коммуниста задержали за взятку (In Russian — Scandal in Yel'sk: elections were failed due to communist-candidate's detention for bribe). Belarusian Partisan
8. «За справедливые выборы»: результаты голосования не отвечают реальному волеизъявлению избирателей (In Russian — "For just elections": elections results do not represent real voters' volition). Naviny.by
9. 10 интересных фактов про только что состоявшиеся выборы в местные Советы депутатов. Коротко о главном (In Russian — 10 interesting facts on Local Councils of Deputies elections just taken place. Fast facts). Vitebskiy Kurier
10. Могилев: наблюдателям от ОГП отомстили за поимку карусельщиков (In Russian — Mogilev: UCP observers were avanged for catching cruise voters). Belarusian Partisan
11. КХП—БНФ. Паведамленьне пра «выбары» (In Belarusian — CCP–BPF. Message on "elections")
12. "Сведения о составе избранных депутатов местных Советов депутатов двадцать восьмого созыва (In Russian — Data on elected deputies of 28th Convocation Local Councils of Deputies)" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 21 February 2018. Retrieved 27 February 2021.
13. Поведены итоги выборов в местные Советы депутатов (In Russian — Local Councils of Deputies elections assessed). zviazda.by