CIS observers say parliamentary voting in Armenia free, open, competitive

PanARMENIAN.Net - Parliamentary elections held in Armenia on May 6 were “free, open and competitive, in line with the current electoral legislation, universal democratic norms and aimed at developing democracy in the country,” CIS observing mission said.

Speaking in Yerevan on May 7, head of the mission Vladimir Garkun said they visited 978 polling stations for monitoring, as well as took part in ballot count and finalizing the outcomes.

Garkun mentioned that many local and international observers attended the polling sites, and highlighted the importance of the working group set up by Armenian Prosecutor’s Office for complaint consideration.

The observer further noted that the CIS mission invited by initiative of Armenian PM Tigran Sargsyan, was closely watching the whole pre-election preparation and propaganda process.

“All political forces were provided with all necessary conditions and tools, which they used to the utmost,” he said adding they saw no violations in pre-election period.

As to electoral process violations, Garkun noted several technicalities which could not affect the voting outcome since it was not a mass forgery.

Among these, the observer mentioned the problem of ink vanishing from the voters’ passport earlier than expected, one unsealed ballot box at 4/14 polling station, queues at polling sites, etc.