🗳Election Day in Belarus🗳

President Lukashenko is expected to rig the results to secure a sixth term. Challenging him is a 37-year-old former English teacher who was a total unknown weeks ago but has galvanized the opposition.

Watch this space. https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/christopherm51/belarus-president-faces-women-led-challenge
Belarus’s Authoritarian President Mocked The Role Of Women In Politics. Now Three Of Them Are...

Three women political novices have captured Belarusians’ imagination with a promise of change and three simple hand gestures that have become symbols of hope for many: ✌️✊❤️.

https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/christopherm51/belarus-president-faces-women-led-challenge
Lukashenko has used his riot police to crack down on opposition supporters, grabbing many off the streets and jailing them. But his security services are also employing other tricks to suppress people’s voices, including disrupting internet access. https://twitter.com/den_2042/status/1292333710310813697?s=21 https://twitter.com/den_2042/status/1292333710310813697
Here’s challenger Svetlana Tikhanovskaya last night encouraging Belarusians to vote and later to return to their polling stations as results are counted. She pleads with election commission officials not to falsify the results.
Key opposition websites and majority of social media platforms used to organize are blocked in Belarus. https://twitter.com/franakviacorka/status/1292367129010941952?s=21 https://twitter.com/franakviacorka/status/1292367129010941952
Heavy police and even military presence around the capital, Minsk. https://twitter.com/hannaliubakova/status/1292356174386540560?s=21 https://twitter.com/hannaliubakova/status/1292356174386540560
More images of that and further confirmation of social media access being blocked. https://twitter.com/kirilenko_a/status/1292342790295355394?s=21 https://twitter.com/kirilenko_a/status/1292342790295355394
Belarus authorities are reporting more than 40% of voters cast ballots early, a number that observers say is highly improbable and suggests massive vote-rigging. https://twitter.com/hannaliubakova/status/1292332813065302017?s=21 https://twitter.com/hannaliubakova/status/1292332813065302017
In some cities more than 50% of voters had cast ballots by 10:00am, election commission claims. 🧐 That seems very unlikely and would certainly be unprecedented. https://twitter.com/tutby/status/1292373231689662471?s=21 https://twitter.com/tutby/status/1292373231689662471
Underdog Tikhanovskaya says seven people from her team have been detained by authorities. She went into hiding last night to avoid being jailed on Election Day. https://twitter.com/tutby/status/1292371502667575299?s=21 https://twitter.com/tutby/status/1292371502667575299
Long lines of Belarusians waiting to vote abroad in Kyiv, Moscow and St. Petersburg. https://twitter.com/belpartisan/status/1292367019707334656?s=21 https://twitter.com/belpartisan/status/1292367019707334656
It wouldn’t be an election in a former Soviet republic without food offerings. 💁🏻‍♂️ https://twitter.com/franakviacorka/status/1292358657410293760?s=21 https://twitter.com/franakviacorka/status/1292358657410293760
Wow. Check out this massive queue to vote at the embassy in Warsaw. A lot of young Belarusians and white and red flags, an historic flag and symbol of the opposition. https://twitter.com/belsat_tv/status/1292351232405909511?s=21 https://twitter.com/belsat_tv/status/1292351232405909511
Here’s the queue to vote at the Embassy of Belarus in Moscow. https://twitter.com/tvrain/status/1292361745869221888?s=21 https://twitter.com/tvrain/status/1292361745869221888
That’s quite a difference. Also, not only independent local observers, but international election monitors from the OSCE were also barred from observing the vote. https://twitter.com/tadeuszgiczan/status/1292378804128829440?s=21 https://twitter.com/tadeuszgiczan/status/1292378804128829440
Dozens of foreign journalists, including myself (I’m writing from Kyiv), were denied accreditation from Belarus MFA or else never received responses. So much of the reporting is being done by and gathered from brave local sources on the ground working under immense pressure.
Can’t stress enough how important it is to follow local reporters and activists who know the ropes best. Some I follow: @HannaLiubakova @BFreeTheatre @franakviacorka @TadeuszGiczan and the newsrooms of @tutby @svaboda @Belsat_TV @Belsat_Eng @belpartisan.
Some good points made in this thread by @BalazsJarabik: https://twitter.com/BalazsJarabik/status/1292380656358629376
A reminder that among the more than 1,300 people detained in Belarus on bogus charges during presidential campaigning in recent weeks is @me_vitali, a former campaign staffer for @BernieSanders and @BarackObama. https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/christopherm51/us-campaign-aide-jailed-belarus
A Former Bernie Sanders Campaign Staffer Is Stuck In A Belarus Jail Cell, Charged With Disrupting...

Vitali Shkliarov faces up to three years behind bars for allegedly organizing an illegal campaign rally for the candidate challenging President Alexander Lukashenko, known as “Europe’s Last Dictator.”

https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/christopherm51/us-campaign-aide-jailed-belarus
I’ve seen a lot of wild schemes to rig voting in Eastern European elections but this might take the cake. https://twitter.com/tadeuszgiczan/status/1292395572595392517?s=21 https://twitter.com/tadeuszgiczan/status/1292395572595392517
You can bet those holding up ✌️✊❤️ at the polling stations for expats in Georgia aren’t casting ballots for Lukashenko. https://twitter.com/anyachernyshova/status/1292389723634380800?s=21 https://twitter.com/anyachernyshova/status/1292389723634380800
https://twitter.com/netblocks/status/1292395720486592512?s=21 https://twitter.com/netblocks/status/1292395720486592512
Three journalists for independent Russian outlet @tvrain have been detained in Minsk by undercover security forces. Video from Nexta Belarusian Telegram channel.
Lukashenko on Tikhanovskaya and those in opposition to him: “They aren’t even worth repressing.”

Then why all the police and military vehicles, and the arrests of more than 1,300 people and barring candidates from running?
https://twitter.com/tutby/status/1292419259159674882?s=21 https://twitter.com/tutby/status/1292419259159674882
Check out this reception for Tikhanovskaya as she arrives to vote in Minsk. Crowd chanting her name, "Sveta! Sveta!" and "Well done!" Huge applause. https://twitter.com/currenttimetv/status/1292430127108890625?s=21 https://twitter.com/currenttimetv/status/1292430127108890625
Veronika Tsepkalo did in fact leave Belarus but her husband Valery Tsepkalo, who was barred from running in today’s election and fled to Moscow then Kyiv, tells me she went to Moscow to vote safely there and be with her children for the day. She’ll return to Minsk soon.
Lukashenko is bringing the army to Minsk before polls close tonight in anticipation of protests following what people believe will likely be rigged results. Here are two tanks on truck beds. 😳
More military seen here around Minsk this afternoon. Massive security pretense in the Belarusian capital. An ominous sign of what’s to come tonight.
Again, huge security presence in Minsk. Lukashenko is mobilizing police, KGB security forces, and the military. https://twitter.com/hannaliubakova/status/1292443132701933569?s=21 https://twitter.com/hannaliubakova/status/1292443132701933569
The queue to vote at the Belarusian embassy in London earlier. https://twitter.com/olgastezhko/status/1292424488399908864?s=21 https://twitter.com/olgastezhko/status/1292424488399908864
Interesting. As reported earlier, Belarusian authorities are doing their darnedest to shut down the internet and social media. But Slack is seems to be working the best for users trying to share info. https://twitter.com/franakviacorka/status/1292483256919699456
Independent election observers report more than 100% turnout at some polling stations. https://twitter.com/tutby/status/1292484680000966659
Have a look at this detention in Minsk. Hand on the throat before being dragged into an unmarked van. https://twitter.com/symbalby/status/1292219785070116868?s=21 https://twitter.com/symbalby/status/1292219785070116868
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