A referendum on allowing President
Lukashenko to stand in further elections was held in
Belarus
Belarus, officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Russia to the east and northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Belarus spans an a ...
on 17 October 2004, alongside
parliamentary elections
A general election is an electoral process to choose most or all members of a governing body at the same time. They are distinct from by-elections, which fill individual seats that have become vacant between general elections. General elections ...
. Lukashenko was nearing the end of his constitutionally-limited two terms, and the change would allow him to run for a third term.
In accordance with article 140 of the constitution, a majority of valid votes as well as a majority of registered voters in favor of the constitutional changes were required for the result to be deemed valid
The result was 88.91% of valid votes and 79.42% of registered voters in favor, with a turnout of 90.28%.
Results
Controversy
Paragraph 112 of Belarusian Electoral Code lists "questions connected with election and dismissal of the President of the Republic of Belarus" among questions prohibited from being brought out to the Republican referendum.
There were several arrests of protesters against the result and reports of oppositional leaders being beaten by police.
References
External links
Official 2004 Belarus Rederendum data
{{Belarusian Elections
Constitutional amendments
Referendums in Belarus
2004 referendums
2004 in Belarus
Constitutional referendums in Belarus
October 2004 in Europe