I DID NOT VOTE TWICE
By Lusine Musaelian (CRS No. 403 25-Jul-07)
Institute for War and Peace Reporting, UK
July 25 2007
A Karabakhi journalist and her look-alike sister cause a stir at
Stepanakert polling station.
When I woke up on July 19, I saw that it was already 8 am. Believing
I was late, I got dressed in a hurry. I’d arranged to meet our IWPR
colleagues from Yerevan and other parts of the Caucasus to visit
a number of polling stations in the town of Shushi to observe the
situation there and report on the presidential election in Karabakh.
But, before I could go to Shushi, I had to perform my civic duty –
to vote. Only people who are often late can know how quickly I rushed
out of the house. On reaching the polling station, I found out that
my watch was an hour fast and I was the first person to arrive. I was
warmly greeted as the first voter of the day and invited to cast my
ballot. They said they were glad to see "such a young and beautiful
girl" arriving ahead of everybody else.
The mood in the Karabakhi capital Stepanakert was different from an
ordinary day. I saw on my way that voting at several polling stations
was proceeding to the accompaniment of live music. Stepanakert
residents, especially women and girls, had dressed for a festive
occasion.
Several hours after I voted, my sister went to the same polling station
to cast her ballot. Her arrival caused a flurry at the station. My
sister and I look very alike, and this resemblance has frequently got
us into funny situations. When she attempted to take the ballot form,
polling station officials started clamouring, "This girl has come
for a second time! Don’t you dare fill in the ballot!"
My sister told me later that the tumult subsided only after they
checked her passport and the voter lists.
During the two previous presidential elections, I don’t remember
the town being particularly active or its mood being affected by
the event. This time around, however, the town simply pulsated with
election excitement.
For several months before the poll, Stepanakert residents tirelessly
had discussed the future event. In the immediate period before
the election, political discussions could be heard everywhere –
on streets, in cafes, parks and shops. People asked each other,
"Whom will you vote for – Bako [Sahakian] or Masis [Mailian]?"
Coming home by taxi late in the evening of election day, I asked
the driver:
"Did you vote?"
"Yes."
"If it’s not a secret, who for?"
"For my boss."
"Do you work for the state?"
"No, I don’t, but this taxi-service belongs to Bako Sahakian."
"And whom did you give your vote?
"Masis."
We arrived at my home. I paid the fare and was getting out of the car,
when the driver said, "I must tell you that all that was recorded. So
be careful."
Lusine Musaelian is a correspondent with the electronic newspaper
Karabakhopen, Stepanakert.
This report is one of three first-person accounts of journalists from
and visiting Nagorny Karabakh during the presidential elections as
part of IWPR’s Cross Caucasus Journalism Network project. Different
in style from our usual reports, they give an impression of the polls
and life in this remote but important territory in the South Caucasus.