Presidential election kicks off in Belarus

(1700 GMT). Five candidates, including incumbent President Alexander Lukashenko, have been registered for the presidential election, Xinhua news agency reported.

Voters will cast their ballots at 5,325 polling stations nationwide and the number of voters stands at about 6.9 million, according to the country's Central Election Commission.

Elections are considered valid if more than half of the citizens included in the voter list cast their ballots. The head of state is considered elected if a candidate is supported by more than half of the voters who took part in the voting.

Early voting for the country's presidential election took place from January 21 to 25.

The Central Election Commission said Saturday that 41.81 per cent of eligible voters have cast their ballots during the five-day early voting session, which is organised for those unable to vote on the election day.

Earlier, the Central Election Commission had confirmed formation of polling stations for the presidential elections in the country.

A total of 5,325 polling stations have been set up with 925 in Gomel region, 894 in Minsk region, 861 in Brest region, 701 in the city of Minsk, 683 in Mogilev region, 672 in Vitebsk region, and 589 in Grodno region.

According to the law, Belarus' president is chosen through direct elections and a candidate winning more than 50 per cent of the vote will be elected. If no candidate achieves this majority, the two leading candidates will enter a second round, in which the candidate who receives a simple majority wins.

Presidential elections take place every five years. In the last election on August 9, 2020, Lukashenko was reelected president for the sixth time with 80.1 per cent of the vote.