In all 14 districts of the Vitebsk region, elections were held as of 18:00, Dmitry Khoma, Chairman of the Regional Election Commission, informed a BELTA correspondent.
"As of 18:00, 652,390 people out of 854,788 included in the voting lists have exercised their civic right. Voter turnout was 76.32%," informed the commission chairman.
Dmitry Khoma noted that from 8:00 to 10:00, less than 4% of voters visited the polling stations; from 10:00 to 12:00, turnout was over 8%; the peak – almost 11% – occurred in the next two hours. And from 14:00 to 16:00, 8% of the region's residents cast their votes, and from 16:00 to 18:00 – 7%.
"The political campaign in the region is proceeding quite actively and in a standard mode," added Dmitry Khoma.
In the Vitebsk region, 768 polling stations have been open since 8:00, including 25 formed in sanatoria, health resorts, rest homes, hospitals, and other healthcare organisations providing inpatient medical care, and one in a military unit.
The parliamentary elections are being monitored by representatives of the OSCE ODIHR, the CIS mission, and national observers – a total of about 4,000 people. Until the polling stations close, they will monitor the voting process, then be present during the verification and counting of ballots, and the summarisation of results.-0-