He accuses the West of trying to use the vote to undermine his government and “destabilize” the nation of 9.5 million people. Belarusian opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, who is in exile in neighboring Lithuania after challenging Lukashenko in the 2020 presidential election, urged voters to boycott the elections. Election officials said Sunday that over 40% of the voters had cast ballots during early voting from Tuesday to Saturday. During the 2020 election, activists encouraged voters to photograph their ballots in a bid to prevent authorities from manipulating the vote in Lukashenko’s favor. Since 1995, not a single election in Belarus has been recognized as free and fair by the OSCE.

Source: ABC News February 25, 2024 04:18 UTC