February 9, 2006
SIGNATURES FOR BELARUSIAN OPPOSITION CANDIDATE INVALIDATED IN 10 DISTRICTS.
Central Election Commission Secretary Mikalay Lazavik told journalists on 8 February that territorial election commissions in Hrodna Oblast annulled ballot-access signatures collected for united opposition candidate Alyaksandr Milinkevich in 10 of the region's 17 districts, Belapan reported. Under regulations currently in force, if 15 percent of all signatures gathered in one particular area (city, district, or oblast) are declared inauthentic, all the signatures from this area are to be annulled. Milinkevich reportedly submitted 198,000 signatures to support his presidential bid, including 28,000 collected in Hrodna Oblast. Alyaksandr Bukhvostau, Milinkevich's election team manager, commented that the invalidation of signatures in Hrodna Oblast is a deliberate step by the authorities to discredit the united opposition candidate in his native region and undermine public trust in him. "We have Xerox copies of all lists and are ready to check the authenticity of all submitted signatures jointly with territorial election commissions, but we have been told 'no' everywhere," Bukhvostau added.
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