“Authoritarian incumbent President Aleksander Lukashenko won 79.7 percent of the vote in Belarus’ presidential election, according to an exit poll released immediately after voting ended Sunday evening — in a campaign marked by the arrest and intimidation of opposition candidates. The poll, conducted by the government-run Youth Laboratory of Sociological Studies, gave lead opposition candidate Svetlana Tikhanovskaya 6.8 percent; independent polls are banned. The Central Election Commission said early results would be released after midnight, with a more complete vote count coming on Monday morning” Politico reports.
“Tikhanovskaya was a surprise replacement for her husband Sergei, a popular blogger who was arrested when he tried to launch a presidential campaign. She held large rallies in Minsk and in provincial cities, riding a groundswell of popular discontent at Lukashenko, who has been in power since 1994. The lopsided election result is likely to be contested by the opposition. Police arrested independent election observers and reporters on Sunday and there were reports of internet outages and difficulty accessing news sites.”