Belarusians began voting in 5,325 polling stations in the country as of 08:00 local time for the presidential election in which five candidates are running. Voting will continue until 20:00.

President Alexander Lukashenko, who has been in office since 1994, is considered certain to be re-elected.

The election will be considered invalid if at least 50 percent of registered voters do not participate, and if the candidates fail to receive 50 percent of the votes in the first round, a second round of voting will be held on February 12.

The European Parliament has described the election in Belarus as a “fraud” and called on the European Union (EU) to reject its legitimacy in a draft resolution adopted on Wednesday, January 22. The draft resolution, which was adopted with the support of 567 parliamentarians, also expressed deep concern about the situation of political prisoners in Belarus.