Empty polling stations mark Lukashenko's "elections," says Belarusian journalist

He shared the information on Espreso TV.

"Elections are not just one day of voting, Belarus has a unique early voting system. Over 40% of Belarusians are administratively coerced into voting or their votes are assigned. In Belarus, there is no political system like elections; there is the reappointment of Lukashenko through formal procedures, in which no one believes anymore. Potential competitors of Lukashenko are either in prison or in exile, unlike in 2020, they cannot oppose him. It's questionable to say that any elections took place," emphasized the journalist from Radio Free Europe’s Belarus service.

He added that such a reappointment process is typical of authoritarian states, such as in Central Asia or once in Iraq, or more recently in Syria – this has also happened in Belarus.

"There is much evidence of empty polling stations. Even when Lukashenko came to vote, he was the first or second on the list when receiving his ballot. It's hard to believe in all those turnout numbers, observers and human rights defenders have cast doubt on it. There were many previous campaigns I could directly cover, but there was no visible desire for people to vote because there was no intrigue, so why go? Therefore, the high turnout figures are not credible," concluded Valery Kalinovsky.

• On January 26, 2025, presidential "elections" were held in Belarus, where Alexander Lukashenko, who has been in power since 1994, is running for his seventh consecutive term.
• Many leaders of European and world countries did not recognize the legitimacy of the Belarusian sham elections.
• In the evening, after the “elections”, the state exit poll of Belarus announced the results of a survey, according to which Lukashenko received a record 87.6% of the votes.
• The head of the Central Election Commission (CEC) of Belarus, Igor Karpenko, announced that 86.82% of voters allegedly cast their ballots for Alexander Lukashenko in the simulated presidential election.