2004 Belarusian parliamentary election

2004 Belarusian parliamentary election

17 October 2004 (first round) 27 October 2004 (second round) 20 March 2005 (third round)
All 110 seats in the House of Representatives 56 seats needed for a majority
Turnout	90.14%
Party Leader Vote % Seats +/– CPB Tatsyana Holubeva 5.49 8 +2 BAP Mikhail Shimansky 2.38 3 −2 LDPB Sergei Gaidukevich 2.01 1 0 Independents – 76.16 98 +4 This lists parties that won seats. See the complete results below. Speaker of the House of Representatives before Speaker of the House of Representatives after Vadim Popov Independent Vladimir Konoplev Independent

Parliamentary elections were held in Belarus on 17 October 2004, with a second round of voting in two constituencies on 27 October, and a third round in one on 20 March 2005. The vast majority of successful candidates, 98 of 110, were independents. Voter turnout was reported to be 90% in the first round.

A total of 359 candidates contested the election, with opposing parties claiming that around 40% of their candidates were not registered. The OCSE delegation noted that although all candidates were given a set amount of free television and radio airtime and a free statement in the national press, over 80% of television news time was dedicated to President Alexander Lukashenko in the five weeks before the election. They also noted concerns about the independence of the Electoral Commission and a lack of transparency during the voting and counting process. The government also closed down nine independent newspapers in the lead-up to the elections.

Results

Party or alliance				First round			Second round			Third round			Total seats	+/–
				Votes	%	Seats	Votes	%	Seats	Votes	%	Seats
	People's Coalition 5 Plus		United Civic Party	207,664	3.41	0							0	New
			Party of Communists of Belarus	151,602	2.49	0							0	0
			Belarusian Social Democratic Assembly	59,892	0.98	0							0	New
		Total		419,158	6.88	0							0	0
	Communist Party of Belarus			334,383	5.49	8							8	2
	BPF Party			205,387	3.37	0						0	0	New
	Belarusian Social Democratic Party (People's Assembly)			176,032	2.89	0						0	0	0
	Belarusian Agrarian Party			145,004	2.38	3							3	–2
	Liberal Democratic Party of Belarus			122,605	2.01	1							1	0
	Republican Party			28,179	0.46	0							0	0
	Social Democratic Party of Popular Accord			22,441	0.37	0							0	–1
	Independents			4,642,949	76.16	96			1			1	98	4
Total				6,096,138	100.00	108			1			1	110	0
Valid votes				6,096,138	96.80
Invalid/blank votes				201,462	3.20
Total votes				6,297,600	100.00
Registered voters/turnout				6,986,163	90.14
Source: Nohlen, IPU, CEC