Electoral commission chair explains how elections were held in the 2000s

On January 26, another presidential "election" was held, the seventh since the independence of Belarus. Its result is no secret - Aliaksandr Lukashenka won for the seventh time.

How did the elections take place fifteen years ago, in the relatively calm and optimistic 2000s? A woman who was a member of the electoral commission of one of the village councils told Euroradio about it. The editors deliberately withheld her personal data and some details of the story in order to protect the safety of the interviewee. 

"Let them pay me too!"

Our heroine is a former teacher in a rural school. She has participated in three electoral campaigns: two presidential (2006 and 2010) and one parliamentary (2008), as chair of the electoral commission and as an ordinary member of the commission.

The interviewee cites interest and the desire to earn a little money as her motivation for participating in elections.

"I saw that we have an election commission, that they get some money for their work. And that attracted me. Why can't I do it? I want to participate too. Let them pay me too!

I even spoke at a meeting and asked why the same people were members of the commission. I wanted to be in the election commission too. That's how I was included in it".

As for the composition of the election commission, people from the entourage of the village council leadership were there.

"They were someone's relatives, someone's cronies. There was a small amount of money paid, that's why there were mostly pensioners and veterans there. Someone who used to work in the executive committee, or relatives from budget organizations were brought in. Whoever the village council gathered, they put on the election committee. All this was the task of the chairman".

At the same time, the money paid for a week's work was modest, even by the standards of 15-20 years ago.

"They paid millions, but taking into account today's realities those were about 117 rubles. As you can imagine, it was very little money. But if you have two children, it's not bad. And where are you going to work in the village?"

"If the person voted - all was done and dusted"

The work in the election commission lasted five days, including the period of early voting by duty. For this purpose a special work schedule was drawn up. The duties were all outlined: to write in the voters' list, to keep an eye on the ballot box, to be responsible for the election process itself.

"The day before, a schedule was drawn up and distributed among the members of the commission as to who would be at the polling station and at what time to watch the ballot box. A special place was prepared, sealed. People could come and vote. We had someone on duty at the ballot box.

The place to vote was also prepared - a table, a booth with a curtain. It's not like 2020. The ballot boxes were sealed, everything was neat and tidy. This was done by the village council and employees of the local House of Culture. The school representatives were not forced to participate in the election commission - at most one or two teachers participated.

The interviewee says that there were no independent observers at her polling station at that time.

"Perhaps because the polling station was small. There were observers from the [pro-government] organization Belaya Rus. Their man observed the elections. There was also a local precinct officer, or a policeman sent from the district. He was supposed to stand guard at night so that nothing would happen to the ballot box.

Elderly and bedridden people were brought the box to vote. The local organization provided a car for this purpose. A smaller urn, also sealed, was used for this purpose. It was brought, the person voted - all was done and dusted.

It was already in the 2020s that there were active observers who counted the people who came to the polling station. But earlier a person sat and quietly observed. There were observers from other post-Soviet republics, but they did not stay long. They came and left, and that was it.

The woman says that during all the three electoral campaigns it was quiet at the polling station.

"I don't remember anything unusual. People came, voted, when the time was up, the counting started - the ballot box was opened. All the members of the commission sat down, sorted the sheets right and left, and counted them together".

After the count, the secretary drew up the protocol, and all the ballots were taken by car to the district executive committee. The head of the village council was in the car with a policeman. 
 

"We didn't even feel that we were doing anything wrong"

The interviewee denies that her election commission falsified the results.

"I was not involved in any manipulation. We didn't even feel that we were doing anything wrong. We recorded the results the way people voted. And what happened next in the general pile - we don't know. One village voted one way, another village voted another way. The counting was done at the top. We did not have the task to engage in obvious falsification".

Who did the locals vote for the most? The woman says they voted for Lukashenka.

"They [voters] were not even afraid to talk about it when they came to the polling station. I thought afterwards that they shouldn't have given him 80.1% in 2020. Big numbers were not necessary, 53% would have been enough.

At that moment it seemed to us that they were counting honestly and the majority really voted for Lukashenka. We were far from understanding that we had been lied to and that the elections were unfair. The only thing is that we were forced to go to the polls early - not on election day, but earlier, for early voting. I think it was to show activity, that people were involved in the process.

The interviewee does not remember who she voted for. But certainly not for Lukashenka. 

“I wanted it to be like in the Constitution, for it to be done that way. I voted for democracy, for there to be a principle of electorality. That’s what I’m for. That if two terms are allowed, then serve them out, and then another [president] will come. Let it be a mistake, but at least it’s democratic. People wanted there to be an elective system. Not on paper, but in reality.”

The Belarusian did not participate in further elections - at some point she was no longer invited.

"They didn't tell me anything - they just stopped calling me to the commission. I had other thoughts about it, but I didn't go to find out. I don't need any problems, my children had finished their studies, and for the sake of these pennies it wasn't interesting, I gave up".

The interviewee admits that she participated in the rigging, but she does not feel guilty.

“I have nothing to be ashamed of. I participated as a voter very honorably, I did not violate anything, I did not campaign additionally. As a person expressed their will, so it went. I was even proud that I participated in organizing the elections. At that moment, I had no idea that the result was fraudulent and that we were to blame for it. From here, from our place, nothing like that was visible. The officials told us how to conduct the elections according to the rules, but I don't know what happened at the top".