Authorities have full control over electoral process

According to the Central Election Commission, voter turnout during the local elections was 77.27 %, of which more than 32 % voted early.

Despite the reduction in state social guarantees in recent months, the authorities managed to retain full control over the electoral process and demonstrated high voter turnout. Given the declining public trust in local executive institutions, high voter turnout in local elections was supposed to demonstrate the population’s loyalty to the state’s socio-economic policy. Moreover, bearing in mind the upcoming presidential campaign, the authorities wanted to ‘test’ people’s reactions to the new conditions, when government has no funds to secure pay rises, as in previous years.