At stake in this election:

• The office of President of Belarus

Description of government structure:

• Chief of State: President Aleksandr LUKASHENKO
• Head of Government: Prime Minister Sergei SIDORSKY
• Assembly: Belarus has a bicameral Parliament (Natsionalnoye Sobranie) consisting of the Council of the Republic (Soviet Respubliki) with 64 seats and the Chamber of Representatives (Palata Predstaviteley) with 110 seats.

Description of electoral system:

• The President is elected by absolute majority vote through a two-round system to serve a 5-year term. Half of all registered voters must turn out for election to be valid.
• The Prime Minister is appointed by the President.
• In the Council of the Republic (Soviet Respubliki), 56 members are elected by regional governing councils to serve 4-year terms and 8 members are appointed by the president to serve 4-year terms*. In the Chamber of Representatives (Palata Predstaviteley) 110 members are elected by absolute majority vote in single-member constituencies to serve 4-year terms.**

* There are 7 multi-member constituencies with a district magnitude of 8. Each district corresponds to the country's six regions and the capital Minsk.

** In order to be considered valid, 50 percent of voters must show up to vote. If a second round is necessary in a district, this threshold is lowered to 25 percent. However, if the second round of voting is held for only one candidate, the candidate needs to obtain the support of over half of the voters taking part in the election.

Main Candidates in the Presidential race:

• Aleksandr LUKASHENKO*
  Independent(s): N/A
• Jaroslav Cheslavovich ROMANCHUK
  Party: United Civil Party of Belarus (UCP) / Аб'ядна́ная грамадзя́нская па́ртыя Белару́сі / Abjadnanaja hramadzianskaja partyja Biełarus
• Uladzimir NYAKLYAYEU
  Civic Movement: Tell the Truth! / Говори правду!
• Andrei Olegovich SANNIAKU
  Civic Movement: European Belarus

* Although LUKASHENKO is an independent, he is supported by the Communist Party of Belarus (CPB) and its ally, the Agrarian Party.

Population and number of registered voters:

• Population: 9,648,533 (July 2010 est.)
• Registered Voters: 7,105,660 ( 2010 )

Gender Data:

·         Female Population: 5,077,302 (2010)

·         Is Belarus a signatory to CEDAW: Yes (17 July 1980)

·         Has Belarus ratified CEDAW: Yes (4 February 1981)

·         Gender Quota: No

·         Female candidates in this election: 

·         Number of Female Parliamentarians: 35 (as of 2008 elections) 

·         Human Development Index Position: 50 (2014)

·         Social Institutions and Gender Index (SIGI) Categorization: Very Low (2014)

Disability Data:

·         Is Belarus a signatory to CRPD: Yes (28 September 2015)

·         Has Belarus ratified CRPD: No

·         Population with a disability: 1,447,279 (est.)