The Center for Public Outreach and Electoral Process

General information

The Center for Public Outreach and Electoral Process (hereinafter referred to as the Center) was established on September 1, 2022 in order to coordinate the development of educational programs in the field of public outreach, to provide organizational, methodological and information support for the training process of election and referendum organizing staff, as well as persons involved in the electoral process in the Republic of Belarus, scientific, practical and methodological support for public outreach activities and electoral process.

Objectives of the Center

·         to supervise the development of advanced training programs and training courses in the field of public outreach by monitoring, examination, coordination and scientific and methodological support of the educational programs;

·         to provide scientific and methodological support and tracking of advanced training programs and training courses in the field of public outreach run in the distance learning mode (together with the Center for Distance Education);

·         to provide organizational, methodological and information support of advanced training programs offered to managerial personnel of government bodies and other state-run organizations, persons listed in the candidate pool of managerial personnel, members of political parties and public associations of the Republic of Belarus on theory and practice of electoral process;

·         to provide information support to persons trained at the Academy of Public Administration on theory and practice of electoral process;

·         to participate in the preparation of information and analytical, scientific, practical and methodological materials in the field of public outreach, theory and practice of electoral process;

·         to contribute to the improvement of legal culture of voters and other electoral process participants.

Functions of the Center

·         to develop and update scientific and methodological support of advanced training programs on theory and practice of the electoral process and public outreach training courses;

·         to arrange advanced training of election commission members, persons listed in the candidate pool of managerial personnel, members of political parties and public associations of the Republic of Belarus;

·         to monitor educational institutions and other legally approved education providers running advanced training programs and training courses on public outreach;

·         to maintain a data bank of educational institutions and other legally approved education providers running advanced training programs and training courses on public outreach, titles of the educational programs, their customers, categories of students;

·         to regularly prepare information and analytical materials on the current state of the advanced training system, including educational programs and training courses on public outreach and to submit them to the Ministry of Education of the Republic of Belarus and the Administration of the President of the Republic of Belarus;

·         to develop advanced training programs on public outreach and electoral process run in the distance learning mode and to recommend them to be included in the list of government-commissioned educational programs;

·         to advise educational institutions on the development of curricula, teaching and learning materials for public outreach advanced training programs of managers and professionals;

·         to participate in the development of methodological materials and practical recommendations on public outreach, theory and practice of electoral process;

·         to cooperate with concerned organizations, including foreign agencies, on issues that fall within the competence of the Center;

·         to engage in the organization of applied and scientific-methodological events in the field of public outreach, theory and practice of electoral process, legal education;

·         to participate in the development of proposals to improve the system of public outreach activities and electoral process.

Main scopes of activities

·         scientific and educational activity;

·         information and methodological support;

·         public awareness activities.

Staff

·         Andrey Belyakov, Head of the Center;

·         Tatyana Vasilkova, Deputy Head;

·         Anna Mirukovich, Leading Officer;

·         Rostislav Shchurovsky, Officer;

·         Dmitriy Muraveinikov, , Officer.

Youth Election Club "Choice"

The Youth Election Club "Choice" under the Center for Public Outreach and Electoral Process is a community of young citizens involved in project and educational activities in the field of electoral process and improvement of legal culture of young people.

Main scopes of activities of Youth Election Club "Choice"

·         scientific and analytical activities;

·         projects and educational activities;

·         information activities.

Main objectives of Youth Election Club "Choice"

·         to develop and implement educational projects, training and education on electoral issues;

·         to organize and conduct educational workshops, trainings, open dialogues on electoral topics;

·         to develop debate movement;

·         to form a youth "pool of experts", i.e., a community of young people possessing necessary knowledge, practical skills and techniques to analyze social and political events, to provide expert assessments of current issues, to carry out educational work and to brief groups of young people on relevant issues, including electoral security, specific features of electoral legislation, electoral technologies;

·        to organize scientific and practical conferences, disputes, round table events on electoral legislation and electoral process;

·         to organize competitions, tournaments among young researchers, scientists on electoral legislation and electoral technologies;

·         to implement electoral projects through the Internet, social networks, popular youth messengers.

Youth Election Club "Choice" implements its activities in cooperation with the Youth Council at the Central Election Commission of the Republic of Belarus.

Flagship projects of Youth Election Club "Choice"

·         youth information and educational marathon "Choose. BY»;

·         educational board game "Choice. BY»;

·         information and educational project "Academy of Elections";

·         informational and analytical project "2x2 / Complex Matters Put Simply ";

·         telegram chat on electoral topics "Your Choice".

History of Youth Election Club "Choice"
On February 27, 2023, the Youth Election Club "Choice" was created on the basis of the Center for Work with the Population and the Electoral Process.

On March 24, 2023, by the decision of the general meeting of the Youth Election Club "Choice", the Regulations of the Club were adopted which defined three key areas of the Club's activities, i.e., scientific and analytical, projects and education, as well as informational activities.

On June 8, 2023, club members supported by the leadership of the Academy of Public Administration presented a unique youth initiative of the Educational Board Game «Choice. BY» under the umbrella of the Minsk Shift project.

Educational board game "Choice. BY" is a game that introduces young generation to the electoral system and the legal norms of the Republic of Belarus. Such games when used as didactic material contribute to the development of logical and critical thinking, improve understanding of political processes, form and strengthen confidence in the electoral system.

On July 27, 2023, the emblem of the Youth Election Club "Choice" was approved.

On November 9, 2023, the first convocation of the Youth Council under the Central Election Commission of the Republic of Belarus was elected which included 5 members of the club. Dmitry Muraveynikov, student of the Academy of Public Administration, was elected to be the chairman. Diana Kozlovskaya, student of the Academy of Public Administration was elected to be the secretary of the Youth Council was.

On December 14, 2023, the Academy of Public Administration under the aegis of the President of the Republic of Belarus launched the youth information and educational marathon "Choose. BY" which was initiated by the Youth Election Club "Choice".

One of the key goals of the project is to train students to become public speakers in the “peer-to-peer teaching" mode at the events of the marathon "Choose. BY».

In April 2024, in the course of preparation for the Republican Olympiad on theory and practice of the electoral process, the Center for Public Outreach and Electoral Process of the Academy of Public Administration, the Youth Election Club "Choice" supported by the Republican Youth Center "Moladz.by" implemented the information and educational project "Academy of Elections". The "Academy of Elections" included six thematic video lectures about the development of electoral law, the constitutional and legal foundations of the electoral process in the Republic of Belarus, as well as the features of the electoral systems in foreign countries. The videos can be found on the YouTube channel of the MIC "Vybor".

 

On December 5, 2024, a series of open lectures "The President of the Republic of Belarus: Rights, Duties, Powers" was launched at the Academy of Public Administration timed to coincide with the presidential election campaign in the Republic of Belarus.

From January 15 to January 18, 2025, a presentation of a new youth initiative "2x2 / Complex Matters Put Simply" was held at the Stolitsa Shopping Mall. The project was targeted at the participants of the project "Belarus Chooses" within the framework of the marathon "Choose. BY" and was presented as a talk show for social and political issues.  New videos can be viewed here.

On January 24, 2025, at the Information Center of the Central Election Commission of the Republic of Belarus, a tournament on the board educational game "Choice. BY» was held. The tournament participants were greeted by Igor Karpenko, the Chairman of the Central Election Commission of the Republic of Belarus. The honored guests of the tournament were heads of the electoral bodies of the CIS member states, international and foreign observers.

From January 24 to January 27, 2025, members of the Youth Election Club "Choice" were engaged in the activities of the Information Center of the Central Election Commission of the Republic of Belarus as media volunteers.

Up-to-date information about the activities of the Youth Election Club "Choice"  can be found in the telegram chat "Your Choice" (QR code is attached below). In the run of the presidential election campaign in the Republic of Belarus, from November 2024 to January 2025, the total outreach of the telegram channel amounted to more than 357.7 thousand views, as well as about 300 reposts.

Contact information:

Address: Minsk, Moskovskaya Street, 17, room 318.

Phone: (+375 17) 229-51-15.

e-mail: crnip@pac.by

Контактное лицо: Беляков Андрей Эдуардович – начальник Центра.