“There are no legal bases to distrust fairness of elections”

The hotline of Armenia’s Human Rights Defender Karen Andriasian received only 19 reports in connection with the May 5 elections to Yerevan Council of Elders – as compared with 178 reports during the parliamentary elections and 214 reports received during the presidential elections, according to the official website of the Human Rights Defender.

Karen Andriasian expressed his opinion about the May 5 elections.

“Taking into account the limited number of reports as compared with the previous elections, on Election Day employees of rapid response groups of the HRD Office went to polling stations, met with citizens, observers, proxies and reporters there, offering their help and trying to get additional information about possible violations. Two complaints were received during visits to 66 polling stations.

The statistics of reports and complaints filed to the HRD Office are as follows: 10 calls were received for advice on inaccuracies in voters lists, participation in the elections based on an ID card, and entering a polling station after the polls closed, 6 reports about gatherings at polling stations, 2 reports about bribe distribution, one report about violence against a reporter, one complaint about pressure on an observer, and one report about the improper conduct of an observer.

Based on the reports we have recorded, as well as the information about violations submitted by the mass media, local and international observation organizations, political forces, and government bodies, we can make the following conclusions:
The elections took place in competitive conditions. All the political forces running in the elections had free conditions for conducting their election campaigns, as well as a real opportunity to control the process of voting and counting of votes at polling stations. The journalists and observers of NGOs actively followed the election process, informing the public about every slight irregularity.

The number of all verified and unverified reports of observation organizations and journalists about essential and not essential violations, including suspicions, did not exceed 600. As compared with the previous elections, the police responded to all the reports about falsifications more rapidly and effectively and thus revealed only 143 credible reports. Some 50 well-founded reports about ballot box stuffing, bribe distribution, multiple voting and other essential violations were received, whereas the difference between the votes received by the political forces greatly exceeds this number of published suspicions about violations.

Taking the aforesaid into account, it can be said that the elections to Yerevan Council of Elders were free, and currently there are no legal bases to distrust their fairness”.