Minsk - Polling stations opened early on Sunday in Belarus for a referendum on whether authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko should be allowed to run for a third straight term, as well as for parliamentary elections.
"All polling stations opened normally at 08:00," central elections commission spokesperson Vladimir Chernikov told AFP. Voting was to end at 20:00.
Belarus's seven million voters were being asked to vote "yes" or "no" to a constitutional change that would allow Lukashenko to run for a third term in 2006, when his current tenure ends. Under the present constitution, he can only be elected for two consecutive terms.
Citizens will also be voting for the former Soviet republic's 110-seat parliament. Preliminary results are expected overnight.
News24
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