That's not my signature! Falsification spotted at election commission in Minsk

Minsker Aleh Zyl spotted his full name, address, and falsified signature next to them in a statement nominating an unknown woman to the local election commission. Tatsiana Plashchynskaya, HR officer at OAO Belmetal company, was proposed in mid-June as a member of the election commission at the polling station No 90 in Minsk's Zavodzki District. Aleh Zyl was among a dozen of voters who had allegedly nominated her. However, he claims that he has never heard about Plashchynskaya before.

"I have no idea why my signature can be found there. I know nothing about this woman and I don't know her in person," Aleh Zyl tells Euroradio. "We have already filed a police report and will wait for an official reply."

Aleh found out accidentally that his signature was in the nomination letter. There was another candidate for the place of Plashchynskaya on the election commission - an activist with the Honest People campaign but she was eventually rejected. The lawyer who helped her appeal the decision of the territorial election commission called the voters whose signatures were found on Plashchynskaya's nomination. Some of them, just like Zyl, said they were hearing for the first time that they had nominated someone to the local election commission.

Euroradio called OAO Belmetal's HR department where Tatsiana Plashchynskaya is employed. However, she was not in the office. We were told to call back in ten minutes. Ten minutes later, she was yet not to be available again.

At least four persons on the election commission for the polling station No90 are employed at OAO Belmetal:

Valery Zaitsau, deputy head of foreign economic relations;
Dzmitry Kanashevich, senior labor safety specialist;
Aliaksandr Myakishau, CTO;
Tatsiana PLashchynskaya, HR officer

Some of the signatures endorsing Tatsiana Plashchynskaya's nomination to the local election commission should have been declared invalid. They are dated in February 2020, which is earlier than normal. The local election commission for the 2020 presidential elections began to form in mid-June not as early as in February 2020.

According to the Honest People activist, the date discrepancy was reported even during the meeting of the committee deciding who would be allowed in as a member. However, an official from Zavodski District Administration said it was a typo and Plashchynsklaya was cleared as a vote counter despite the spotted violation.

Follow Belarus news in Belarusian and Russian via Euroradio on Telegram.

Daily videos and issue-based chats with experts on Belarusian developments on YouTube. Subscribe here.