Photo Gallery Elections in Belarus
Dubbed "Europe's last dictator" by the US, Alexander Lukashenko votes with his son Nikolay in Minsk on Sept. 28, 2008. Lukashenko promised fair and free elections, leading some in the West to hope that opposition members would gain seats in parliament.
On Monday Central Elections Commission chief Lidiya Yermoshina told reporters that all 110 seats in the lower house were going to allies of Lukashenko. Yermoshina insisted that the vote was free and fair and "in accordance with the law," arguing that the opposition was simply not popular.
The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) said that the polls had fallen short of Western standards, despite "minor improvements." Here, soldiers cast their votes.
Mobile polling stations were set up around the country. An elderly Belarusian woman votes at one such station at the village of Krasniy Bereg 40 kilometers outside of Minsk.
On Sunday night around 500 people turned out on a central square in Minsk to protest and many carried banners with slogans, such as "No to Farce," and "Dictatorship should go in the dustbin of history."
Several hundred made their way to the headquarters of the country's secret police where they chanted "shame."
Lukashenko, who has ruled Belarus since 1994, had been making moves to improve relations with the West. But on Monday one opposition leader said the vote "spits in the face of the European community."
