BELARUS-VOTE

Villagers cast their ballots at the mobile polling station of the village of Mgle outside Minsk, 19 March 2006, during presidential elections. Turnout in Belarus’ presidential election today has passed the minimum 50 percent requirement for the polling to be declared valid. „Already more than 50 percent of people registered on voter lists have taken part,” Nikolai Lozovik, deputy chairman of the central electoral commission, said on state television. He was speaking five hours after voting started, with seven hours remaining before polls closed. Authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko was expected to sweep to a third term in power after a campaign in which his three opponents were all but barred from media access and hundreds of their activists were arrested. AFP PHOTO/ VIKTOR DRACHEV