Exit polls conducted by Ecoom, an analytical center accredited with the Central Election Commission of Belarus, suggested that 82 percent of the voters supported Mr. Lukashenko’s presidential ambitions. Gallup Organization/Baltic Surveys, which conducted an independent monitoring, is going to announce the results soon.

Parliamentary elections and the constitutional referendum were held in Belarus on Sunday. According to the Central Election Commission of Belarus, voter turnout was about 85 percent. There are 7 million eligible voters in the republic. The voting ended at 20:00 local time (21:00 Moscow time). About 76 percent of Belarusian nationals living abroad, also took part in the voting.

Lidiya Yermoshina, Chairwoman of the Belarusian Central Election Commission, says there were no irregularities. According to her, observers from opposition parties were “complaining about nonsense”. She could not say whether the publishing of preliminary exit-poll results was a violation of the law. Ms. Yermoshina said in her opinion, the election law had not been violated.

Meanwhile, there were reports that observers were denied access to polling stations across the entire republic, Echo of Moscow radio reported quoting Vintsuk Vyachorka, Chairman of the Belarusian Peoples Front party. According to him, neither the elections nor the referendum would reflect the will of the Belarusian people.

Currently, presidents in Belarus are restricted by a maximum of two terms, 5 years each. Constitutional amendments require approval by more than 50 percent of the voters. A decree on the referendum was signed by Mr. Lukashenko.

Parliamentary elections were held in 110 constituencies of Belarus according to a majoritarian system. 353 candidates took part in the elections. The parliament is elected for 4 years. The elections took place in all of Belarus’ 6,659 polling stations.