Early by-election voting begins in Grodno

2005-03-15 10:35:00

Minsk, 15 March. Early voting began on Tuesday in Grodno's District 52 in a parliamentary by-election for a single vacant seat in the 110-seat House of Representatives of the Belarusian National Assembly. Polls will be open from 10a.m. to 2p.m. and from 4 to 9 p.m. during the 5-day early voting period, Nikolai Lozovik, secretary of the central election commission, told BelaPAN. The three candidates running are Valery Frolov, an outspoken critic of the Aleksandr Lukashenko regime in the previous parliament; Sergei Antusevich, a member of the Belarusian Popular Front who holds a seat in the Grodno City Soviet; and Sergei Maskevich, rector of Grodno State University. The candidates are allowed to continue campaigning until March 19. Votes will be counted after the main polling day, March 20. "The by-election has been quiet. The contenders have not filed complaints with the central election commission as the district commission has been handling all the problems so far," Mr. Lozovik said.