May 13, 2007

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.

• 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.