The non-partisan observation initiative “Human Rights Defenders for Free Elections” has published the final analytical report on the results of observation of the 2020 presidential elections in the Republic of Belarus.

The document draws final conclusions about every phase of the election.

The electoral process at all its stages did not comply with a number of basic international standards for holding democratic and fair elections and was accompanied by numerous violations of these principles and provisions of national legislation. This was due to the exclusion of popular candidates from the election race, the active use of administrative resources in favor of the incumbent, absence of impartial election commissions, unequal access to the media, numerous facts of forcing voters to participate in early voting, and the closed nature of a number of key electoral procedures.

The introduction by the CEC of restrictions on the number of observers at polling stations led to the disruption of observation of all types of voting (early voting, voting on election day, and home voting), as well as the counting of votes. These important stages of the electoral campaign were completely opaque.

Significant violations of both national legislation and the fundamental principles of holding fair and democratic elections, including the deprivation of observers of the opportunity to observe the counting of voting results, does not give grounds to trust the election results announced by the CEC or consider them as reflecting the actual will of the citizens of the Republic of Belarus.