MINSK, January 26. /TASS/. The final voter turnout at Belarus’ presidential election as of 8:00 p.m. local time (5:00 p.m. GMT) was 85.7%, head of the country’s Central Election Commission (CEC) Igor Karpenko, said.

"The voter turnout at the presidential election in Belarus was 85.7%," he said.

Early voting took place from January 21 through 25 and January 26 was the main voting day.

According to the CEC, the turnout in Minsk was 69.72%, in the Brest Region - 90.56%, in the Vitebsk Region - 86.391%, in the Gomel Region - 91.54%, in the Grodno Region - 89.28%, in the Minsk Region - 86.71%, and in the Mogilev Region - 92.64%.

The president will be considered elected if more than half of the citizens participating in the election vote in his favor.

Five candidates are vying for the post of head of state, including incumbent President Alexander Lukashenko, who has led Belarus since 1994. His rivals are the leader of the Liberal Democratic Party Oleg Gaidukevich, entrepreneur Anna Kanopatskaya, first secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party Sergey Syrankov, and leader of the Republican Party of Labor and Justice Alexander Khizhnyak.