The Central Election Commission of the Republic of Belarus (CEC; Belarusian: Цэнтральная камісія па выбарах і правядзенні рэспубліканскіх рэферэндумаў, romanized: Centraĺnaja kamisija pa vybarach i praviadzenni respublikanskich refierendumaŭ) is the body responsible for conducting national elections and overseeing local elections in Belarus. The CEC of Belarus is a member of the Association of Central and Eastern European Election Officials.[1]
In 2011, Yermoshina was again sanctioned by the EU, following the 2010 presidential election.[5] These European sanctions were lifted in 2016.[6]
On 2 October 2020 the European Union imposed sanctions on all 12 members of the commission for violations in the August election.[7] In the autumn of 2020, the UK,[8] Canada[9][10] and Switzerland[11] also imposed sanctions against all CEC members. The United States imposed sanctions against CEC Deputy Chairman Vadzim Ipatau and CEC Secretary Alena Dmukhayla on 2 October 2020,[12] and on 21 June 2021 extended them to cover the rest of the Commission members.[13] In addition, on 23 December 2020 the Central Election Commission itself was added to the SDN list.[14]
In March 2022, the new head of the CEC, Ihar Karpenka, was added to the Canadian sanctions list[15] In June 2022 Karpenka was also blacklisted by the European Union;[16] Switzerland joined these sanctions shortly thereafter.[17]
In March 2023, Karpenka and other members of the Belarusian CEC who had joined the commission after 2020 were added to the Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons List.[18]