Parliamentary elections were held in Belarus on 15 October 2000, with further rounds of voting on 29 October, 18 March and 1 April.Dieter Nohlen & Philip Stöver (2010) Elections in Europe: A data handbook, p252 The vast majority of successful candidates, 94 of 110, were independents.Nohlen & Stöver, p261 Voter turnout was reported to be 61.08% in the first round.
A total of 566 candidates contested the election, only around fifty of which were opponents of President Alexander Lukashenko. Opposition parties called for a boycott, criticising the government's control of the state media. In response, the Department of Justice stated that anyone calling for a boycott could receive a jail sentence of up to two years, and several activists were detained.Belarus: Elections held in 2000 Inter-Parliamentary Union Although a Russian delegation claimed the elections were free and fair, other international observers disagreed, noting concerns about the treatment of opposition candidates, a possible inflation of voter turnout and falsified and destroyed ballot papers.
Results PartyFirst roundSecond roundThird roundFourth roundTotalseats+/–Votes%SeatsVotes%SeatsVotes%SeatsVotes%Seats Communist Party of Belarus 2 4 0 06New Belarusian Agrarian Party 4 1 0 05–28 Republican Party of Labour and Justice 0 2 0 02+1 Belarusian Social Sporting Party 1 0 0 010 Liberal Democratic Party of Belarus 0 1 0 01+1 Social Democratic Party of Popular Accord 1 0 0 01New Party of Belarusian Communists 0 0 0 00–42 Belarusian Social Democratic Party (People's Assembly) 0 0 0 00New Republican Party 0 0 0 000 Independents 33 48 2 1194–1Total 41 56 2 11110–88Total votes4,430,878– 3,703,345– 588,595– 373,366–Registered voters/turnout7,254,75261.083,703,34551.78810,50272.62677,90355.08Source: Nohlen & Stöver, IPU
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