In recent years, election experts observed significant increase of spending on election campaigns. The transparency of party and campaign financing became one of the key requirements to ensure the integrity of today's election processes. To raise awareness about the urgent need to increase transparency, our newest comparative study analyzes the regulation and oversight of political party and campaign financing in the EU - Eastern Partnership and Russian Federation.

The Human Rights Defenders for Free Elections state in their preliminary report on the conduct of the presidential election that the electoral process at all of its stages did not comply with a number of basic international standards for democratic and fair elections and was accompanied by numerous violations of these principles and requirements of national legislation. Full report now available.

From the first days of early voting, observers from various civic initiatives faced obstacles from PEC members and police officers. Numerous observers were removed from polling stations, deprived of accreditation, and even detained. The restrictions imposed by the CEC on the number of observers at polling stations during early voting made this electoral phase completely non-transparent for independent citizen observation. These restrictions were aimed at disrupting independent observation of this stage, rather than pursuing the declared medical safety measures in connection with the pandemic.

In their latest report Human Rights Defenders for Free Elections state that the election campaign took place in unequal conditions. By abandoning official campaigning, the incumbent made an extensive use of the administrative and propaganda resources of the power vertical, pro-government NGOs and the media. Moreover, the incentive measures taken on the initiative of the incumbent, including an increase in pension rates and their early payment, were in essence bribery of voters and manifestations of the use of administrative resources.

President Lukashenko has tried to play down the upcoming election as an unnecessary distraction from business, but an active social media movement has shown that the public is no longer prepared to go along with an alternate reality. Here you can read the findings of the interim report, produced by MEMO 98, EAST Center and Linking Media, which examines media and social media in Belarus from the end of April until 23rd June.

Human Rights Defenders for Free Elections (HRDs) stated in their latest report on the entire nomination and signature collection phase of the election campaign that this was marred by serious violations of the standards of free and democratic elections. The nomination groups of some candidates were subjected to significant pressure from law enforcement agencies and the verification of signatures by the Central Election Commission (CEC) was not transparent.

The Central Election Commission has until 14 July to complete the registration process of candidates for the presidential race. Observers from the "Human Rights Defenders for Free Elections" campaign report that further measures were taken to disadvantage rival candidates in recent days: locations where election activities can lawfully take place have been restricted, further members of campaign teams have been detained, and nearly all opposition nominees to PECs were blocked.

Lukashenka attempts to eliminate his competition. The end of the signature collection phase for contenders seeking to be nominated as a Presidential candidate was accompanied by a wave of further detentions of candidates last week. Presidential election being held “in an atmosphere of fear, constant threats and intimidation” - Human Rights Defenders for Free Elections.

The Belarusian Presidential election is gearing up to be an exciting race with mass public engagement and protests across the country against the incumbent President. EPDE cooperates with the joint election observation campaign, the "Human Rights Defenders for Free Elections". Until the election day on August 9, EPDE will share reports from this observation campaign along with information from other sources in biweekly Election Alerts to inform you about the ongoing election campaign.

This week's observation report states that this year's campaign is marked by an increase in election-related protests, triggered also by public discontent over the handling of the COVID-19 crisis. Crackdowns and provocations by authorities against activists and members of other candidates' nomination groups have continued, and observers report an abuse of administrative resources in collecting signatures in support of incumbent President Lukashenka. 

The CEC has registered 15 groups formed to support the nominations of future presidential candidates. However, it came under attack after it turned down 40 applications, mostly by opposition activists associated with former political prisoner Mikalai Statkevich. Well-known blogger Siarhei Tsikhanouski, was arrested and thus deprived of the opportunity to apply for the registration of his nomination group.