Observers fear trouble may follow state exit poll giving incumbent president unexpected 80% of voteBelarus was braced for protests on Sunday evening as the incumbent president, Alexander Lukashenko, appeared poised to claim victory in an election marred by accusations of vote-rigging. As polls closed at 8pm, a state exit poll gave Lukashenko 79.7% of the vote and just 6.8% to challenger Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, whose maverick campaign attracted some of the largest political rallies in Belarus since the fall of the Soviet Union. An estimated 9.2% voted “against all”, according to the poll, a tradition dating from Soviet days. Continue reading…
Observers fear trouble may follow state exit poll giving incumbent president unexpected 80% of vote
Belarus was braced for protests on Sunday evening as the incumbent president, Alexander Lukashenko, appeared poised to claim victory in an election marred by accusations of vote-rigging.
As polls closed at 8pm, a state exit poll gave Lukashenko 79.7% of the vote and just 6.8% to challenger Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, whose maverick campaign attracted some of the largest political rallies in Belarus since the fall of the Soviet Union. An estimated 9.2% voted “against all”, according to the poll, a tradition dating from Soviet days.