Belarusian parliamentary election, 2000

Parliamentary elections were held in Belarus on 15 October 2000, with further rounds of voting on 29 October, 18 March and 1 April.^[1] The vast majority of successful candidates, 94 of 110, were independents.^[2] Voter turnout was reported to be 61.08%.^[3]

A total of 566 candidates contested the election, only around fifty of which were opponents of President Alexander Lukashenko. Opposition parties called for a boycott, criticising the government's control of the state media. In response, the Department of Justice stated that anyone calling for a boycott could receive a jail sentence of up to two years, and several activists were detained.^[3] Although a Russian delegation claimed the elections were free and fair, other international observers disagreed, noting concerns about the treatment of opposition candidates, a possible inflation of voter turnout and falsified and destroyed ballot papers.^[3]

Results

Party	Round												Total seats	+/–
	First			Second			Third			Fourth
	Votes	%	Seats	Votes	%	Seats	Votes	%	Seats	Votes	%	Seats
Communist Party of Belarus			2			4			0			0	6	New
Agrarian Party			4			1			0			0	5	–28
Republican Party of Labour and Justice			0			2			0			0	2	+1
Belarusian Socialist Sporting Party			1			0			0			0	1	0
Liberal Democratic Party			0			1			0			0	1	+1
Social Democratic Party of Popular Accord			1			0			0			0	1	New
Party of Belarusian Communists			0			0			0			0	0	–42
BSDG-NG			0			0			0			0	0	New
Republican Party			0			0			0			0	0	0
Independents			33			48			2			11	94	–1
Invalid/blank votes		–	–		–	–		–	–		–	–	–	–
Total valid votes	4,430,878		41	1,991,530		56	588,595		2	373,366		11	110	–88

References

1. Nohlen, D & Stöver, P (2010) Elections in Europe: A data handbook, p252 ISBN 978-3-8329-5609-7
2. Nohlen & Stöver, p261
3. Belarus: Elections held in 2000 Inter-Parliamentary Union