No serious violations in Karabakh local polls – TV

Artsakh State TV, Stepanakert
23 Aug 04

[Presenter] The Karabakh Central Electoral Commission held a meeting
today to discuss preliminary results of the second round of local
government elections.

[Correspondent over video of meeting] The head of the Central
Electoral Commission, Sergey Davidyan, started the meeting by thanking
all the people who had contributed to holding successful elections. He
especially mentioned TV that had been present at every polling
station.

The turnout of voters this time was higher. In the capital Stepanakert
[Xankandi], out of 33,597 registered voters, 17,039 participated in
the elections, i.e. more than 50 per cent. According to preliminary
calculations, candidate for the office of mayor Eduard Agabekyan
received 9,427 votes, which is 53.3 per cent of the total number of
votes, and Pavel Nadzharyan polled 6,619 votes, which is 38.8 per
cent.

Those present at the meeting confirmed that the elections were open
and transparent, adding that at some polling stations there had been
problems with voters’ lists. Some people could not find their names on
the voters’ lists. There was one case when someone attempted to drop
two ballot papers into the box. There were no serious
violations. Preliminary results in other regions will be announced in
our next bulletins.