Authorities report 79-percent voter turnout in Belarus' local elections

A total of 79 percent of all eligible voters cast their ballots in Belarus' January 9-14 local elections, according to the central election commission.

As Nikolai Lozovik, the commission's secretary, told BelaPAN, the highest voter turnout was in the Vitebsk region, 90.4 percent, compared with 83.3 percent in the Mogilyov region, 82.7 percent in the Gomel region, 81.4 percent in the Minsk region, 80.3 percent in the Grodno region, 80.1 percent in the Brest region, and 60.1 percent in the city of Minsk.

The country's regulations governing local elections require a minimum voter turnout of 50 percent for the election results in a district to be declared valid.

General voter turnout was reported at 73.4 percent in the previous local elections held in 2003 and 66.3 percent in the 1999 local elections.