USAID AND IRI WITHDRAW EXIT POLL PROPOSAL
armradio.am
18.01.2008 18:20
After intensive and detailed discussions with interested parties
regarding a proposal to conduct exit polling in Armenia during the
2008 presidential elections, the International Republican Institute
(IRI) and Baltic Surveys Ltd/Gallup Organization were unable to
resolve all of the detailed procedural questions in a way that was
fully satisfactory to all sides.
Consequently, the US Embassy and USAID have decided to cancel the
project.
"We continue to think that, in principle, exit polling can be a
useful instrument for enhancing the transparency and credibility
of elections. In this particular case, however, given the limited
preparation time remaining prior to the February 19 election and the
questions raised from various parts of the political spectrum, we
decided it would be wiser not to go forward with a project that faced
implementation problems and risked becoming an unhelpful distraction
in the Armenian political debate," reads the statement the US Embassy
disseminated today.