The total voter turnout in the Belarusian parliamentary and local elections on a single voting day reached 72.98% by the time of polling stations closing, Belarusian Central Election Commission Chairman Igor Karpenko said on Sunday.
"All polling stations have closed and the counting of votes has begun ... According to the turnout as of 8 p.m. [17:00 GMT], the turnout in the republic amounted to 72.98%," Karpenko told a briefing.
Belarusians voted on Sunday to elect 12,514 deputies of local councils and 110 members of the parliament's lower house for a period of five years. As many as 263 candidates applied for deputy seats in the lower house and 18,800 for seats in local councils. All four parties registered in the country nominated their candidates.
A member of the Russian lower house delegation that observed the elections, Artem Turov, said that Minsk held the elections in full accordance with its national legislation, with no violations potentially influencing the results observed.
According to confirmed data, turnout in parliamentary and local elections in Belarus stood at 73.09%, Karpenko said later in the day.
"We have clarified preliminary data on turnout, which amounted to 73.09%," the chairman announced at a briefing.
All local councils of deputies in the country have been fully formed and all 110 deputies of the lower house of the Belarusian parliament have been elected according to the results of the vote, the CEC said.
The turnout for the 2019 parliamentary elections in Belarus was 77.4%, while in 2016 it was 74.7%. In the 2020 presidential election, the turnout was 84.3%.