PRESS RELEASE
The Heritage Party
31 Moscovian Street
Yerevan, Armenia
Tel.: (+374 – 10) 53.69.13
Fax: (+374 – 10) 53.26.97
Email: [email protected]; [email protected]
Website:
HERITAGE PARTY
Reports of Violation
Parliamentary Elections of May 12, 2007
The following is a summary of some of the official complaints filed by party
observers during the Armenian parliamentary elections of May 12. Attached
are copies of the forms of complaint.
At Precinct 5/19, Heritage observer Manya Hovannisian recorded that at 10am,
an Election Commission member ignored an inconsistency between a voter’s
surname as it appeared on registration rolls and on his passport.
Hovannisian’s rights as an observer were also violated; she was prohibited
from inspecting election documents throughout the day. Furthermore, the
Commission Chairman refused to accept complaints from Hovannisian or from
any other observer. Moreover, the Commission Chairman attempted secretly to
give ballots to six youths, without signature or authentication. When
observers intervened, the imposters ran off.
>From almost every precinct, observers have phoned in to Heritage
Headquarters and media outlets over glaring discrepancies in ballot box
designs. The four 4-centimeter holes underneath the ballot boxes contradict
the Election Code, which calls for airtight ballot boxes.
Heritage observer Rafik Hakobian recorded that an unidentified man, driving
the 02 002 jeep of Vartashen’s deputy mayor, warned observers in the
precincts of District 5 against recording complaints.
At precinct 3/31 and 3/32, Heritage observer Stepan Safarian was told that
various persons were entering the precinct already with ballots in their
hand. When Safarian attempted to discover the cause of this glaring
illegality, he was intimidated and insulted. He left the precinct with no
answers.
At precinct 1/28, Heritage observer Hermine Santrosian reported at 15.50 to
senior observer Stepan Safarian that she had continuously observed instances
when a voter would be given ballots for absent members of his family. This
was not denied by the Commission Chairman.
At precinct 1/2, Heritage observer Anahit Arustamian recorded at 14.00 that
mysterious new voter lists had appeared at the Budaghian School. Voters were
signing and receiving ballots based on this list. The precinct was in
disorder.
At precinct 5/8, Heritage observer Tamara Sargsian rang her bell at 13.35.
She complained by phone and in writing that, in blatant violation of the
Election Code, more than fifteen people gathered around the ballot box,
obstructing the observers’ view. In response to her complaint, she was
threatened with eviction from the precinct. Similar complaints were filed by
Armine Petrosian of Precinct 1/25 and Susanna Safarian of Precinct 1/26. In
this last case, the number of voters exceeded 45; clear monitoring of the
election process was simply impossible.
At Precinct 5/09, Shushanik Avagian reported that she was denied her basic
rights as an observer, including inspection of voting documents. Similar
reports rang from Hamayak Avagian of Precinct 5/10, Meruzhan Davtian of
Precinct 05/52, Susanna Barkhudarian of Precinct 10/18, and Anush Gharibian
of Precinct 9/29. The denial was often coupled with insults and intimidation
on the part of Election Commission members.
At precinct 4/12, Heritage observer Zaruhi Postanjian reported at 13.35 that
one voter had cast his ballot in the name of another person. When that other
person appeared at the voting station, he was not permitted to vote, as his
signature already appeared on the list.
At precinct 1/28, Heritage observer Hermine Antonian recorded that Election
Commission member Rita Brutian handed one extra envelope to a voter who,
apparently having expected it, returned the envelope to Brutian upon
completion.
At precinct 7/23, Heritage observer Hovsep Khurshudian recorded at 7.00 that
the voter lists were not bound in the form required by law, merely being
loosely stapled. Khurshudian’s request for proper binding was not fulfilled.
At precinct 06/29, Anna Martirosian recorded that when local resident
Gulepsik Gevorkian arrived at the station, his name was already signed for.
Martirosian’s complaint was ignored by the Election Commission.
At District 5, Heritage observer Mihran Amirkhanian submitted a complaint to
Election Commission Chairman Edward Barseghian, where he notes that at
Precinct 05/32, the rights of Heritage’s observers were rudely infringed
upon.
At Precinct 4/30, Heritage observer Armen Hayrapetian reported that citizen
Hripsime Hambartsumian (Sose Street 2/2, Apartment 16) arrived at the voting
station, noticed that her name was signed for, and left, not being able to
cast a vote.
At Precinct 12/26, Heritage observer Larisa Alaverdian complained that some
voters were arriving with colorful (most often green) pens and, having
received permission from the Election Commission Chairman, were using them
to vote. Just outside the voting station, campaigns for the leading
establishment parties were in full swing.
Armen Martirosian, Heritage’s representative at the Central Election
Commission, submitted a letter to Chairman Garegin Azarian, noting an error
on the ballot. The 2-3 millimeter line underneath the names of the Heritage
candidates could well distract the voter, Martirosian said, asking for the
Commission’s leniency on ballots marked in error. In response, the Election
Commission stated that the flaw would not excuse any errors.
At District 4, Heritage observer Zaruhi Postanjian reported on May 13 at
11.25 that the bags of votes brought from neighboring precincts are now open
and unguarded. The regional Election Commission refused to accept complaints
on this matter.
On May 13, 2007, Heritage observer Meruzhan Davtian presented to District 5
a request for a recount at Precinct 05/32, asserting that the degree and
nature of the violations held at that precinct altered significantly the
final result.
On May 13, 2007, Armen Martirosian, Heritage’s representative at the
Central Election Commission, submitted a formal complaint to the 9th
District Election Commission Chairman Eghish Terterian. The complaint
surrounds the fact that, after the vote count was made and finalized, the
Chairman refused to give the stamped result to Heritage’s observer and,
obviously bewildered and distressed by the party’s good showing, delivered
insults instead.