1994 Belarusian presidential election

Presidential elections were held in Belarus on 23 June 1994, with a second round on 10 July.[1] They were the first national elections held in Belarus since the country seceded from the Soviet Union three years earlier. The result was a victory for Alexander Lukashenko, who received 80.6% of the vote in the second round. Voter turnout was 79.0% in the first round and 70.6% in the second.[2]

1994 Belarusian presidential election

23 June 1994 (first round) 10 July 1994 (second round)

Nominee Alexander Lukashenko Vyacheslav Kebich Party Independent Independent Popular vote 4,241,026 748,329 Percentage 80.6% 14.2%

Results of the first round of the election

Elected President Alexander Lukashenko Independent

In 1995, a year after taking office, Lukashenko won a referendum that gave him the power to dissolve the legislature. In 1996, he won another referendum that dramatically increased his power, and also extended his original five-year term to 2001. As a result, the 1994 presidential election is considered, to date, the only free election held in Belarus since it broke away from the Soviet Union.[3][4]

Results

Candidate	Party	First round		Second round
		Votes	%	Votes	%
Alexander Lukashenko	Independent	2,646,140	45.8	4,241,026	80.6
Vyacheslav Kebich	Independent	1,023,174	17.7	748,329	14.2
Zianon Pazniak	Partyja BPF	757,195	13.1
Stanislav Shushkevich	Independent	585,143	10.1
Alaksandar Dubko	Agrarian Party	353,119	6.1
Vasil Novikaŭ	Party of Belarusian Communists	253,009	4.4
Against all		165,023	2.9	271,783	5.2
Invalid/blank votes		121,509	–	17,193	–
Total		5,904,312	100	5,278,331	100
Source: Nohlen & Stöver

Maps

• 
  First round results
• 
  First round votes for Lukashenko
• 
  First round votes for Kebich
• 
  First round votes for Pazniak
• 
  First round votes for Shushkevich

References

1. Dieter Nohlen & Philip Stöver (2010) Elections in Europe: A data handbook, p252 ISBN 978-3-8329-5609-7
2. Nohlen & Stöver, p262
3. Why Does The “Last Dictatorship In Europe” Hold Elections? Belarus Digest, 26 March 2012
4. Profile: Europe's last dictator? BBC News, 10 September 2001