Vitebsk: Commissions lost in time

Polling station # 56 of Kastrychnitski rayon of Vitebsk (Vitebsk-Kastrychnitskaya district # 20) is designed according to the norms of the election legislation. At least, it looks like that at first glance.

However, if one takes time to carefully read the plan of work of the precinct election commission, placed at the information board one can get an impression that a time funnel has been created in the area, and time is flowing back there.

Thus, one can read from the commission’s plan of work that:

n      members of the precinct election commission are to inform the voters about the time and place of voting no later than January 3rd, 2007 (1.5 years before the election was announced?);

n      commission members are to receive from Vitebsk city election commission for elections to the city Council and district election commission for elections to the regional Council ballot papers no later than September 17th, 2008 (what about the district commission of Vitebsk-Kastrychnitskaya district # 20? Who should they give the ballot papers to?);

n      precinct election commission is to organize early voting from the 23rd to the 27th of September, 2008 (the plan says nothing about September 28th – the Election Day: probably, the commission does not expect voting this day at all?);

n      after the early voting the commission chairperson is to present the protocol of the voting results to the district election commission and the body that created the commission (it is unclear from the previous points to which commission the protocols are to be presented).

Human Rights Defenders for Free Elections