Commission rejects Frolov's appeal against election results in Grodno

2005-03-25 14:10:00

Minsk, 25 March. Belarus' central election commission on Friday declared Sergei Maskevich, rector of the Yanka Kupala Grodno State University, the winner in the parliamentary by-election, which was held in Grodno on March 20. Mr. Maskevich has filled the only vacant seat in the 110-member House of Representatives of the Belarusian National Assembly. The government-backed candidate garnered 65.3 percent of the vote, well ahead of the Belarusian Popular Front (BPF)'s Sergei Antusevich and ex-MP Valery Frolov who gained 14.22 percent and 12.4 percent, respectively. Turnout in the district was 59.3 percent. The central election commission rejected Mr. Frolov's request to invalidate the results citing irregularities such as failure by election commissions to present early voting results to observers, the lack of access for journalists to some poling stations and the expulsion of an accredited observer from a polling station. The central election commission said the Mr. Frolov's evidence was inconclusive. "The voting was very smooth and Valery Frolov's complaint to the central election commission was not serious," Lidiya Yermoshina, chairwoman of the commission," said.