Electoral system for national legislature

Electoral Code of the Republic of Belarus, February 11, 2000 No 370-Z [Amended as of June 4, 2015] 

Articles 82-87

New Electoral Code of Belarus (amended in November 25, 2013) effectively changes the country’s electoral system from TRS into FPTP. Article 83 of the Code which previously provided for a run-off in legislative elections no longer exists in the present 2013 Code. Based on a literal reading of the current provisions, it appears that Belarus has abandoned its TRS scheme in favour of a FPTP system. In particular, the current Article 82 simply provides that “the candidate for deputy of the House of Representatives who received the greatest number of votes of the voters who took part in the voting is deemed to be elected. When voting is held for one candidature, the candidate is deemed to be elected if he has obtained more than half of votes of the voters who took part in the voting”. Article 83 – which formerly was the provision spelling out the circumstances and procedures for a run-off – addresses an altogether different issue now.