Despite large numbers of voter violations registered by the local citizen observers, the European observers say the elections were generally calm and peaceful, well administered, and appropriately organized.
The day after Armenia’s April 2 parliamentary election, representatives from European organizations held a press conference to announce the conclusions of their election observation mission.
The mission, which observed elections in Yerevan, Kotayk region, Ararat region, and Armavir region, is a joint undertaking of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (OSCE/ODIHR), the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly (OSCE PA), the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), and the European Parliament (EP).
Read More: Armenia Election: LIVE BLOG
Ignacio Sanchez Amor, OSCE Special Co-ordinator, thanked Armenian authorities for their hospitality during their mission. “Armenian authorities should be praised for working to inform the electorate of this complex electoral process,” he continued.
The representatives had an overall positive assessment of the April 2 electoral process. Nonetheless, they did not deny the existence of credible evidence regarding overcrowding at polling stations, lack of voter education, confusion regarding the voting process, voter secrecy, and vote buying throughout the day.
When asked by a reporter to identify the party or alliance responsible for the stated violations, Mr. Amor said that the representatives can’t know that, increasing the already existing public discussion in Armenia about European observers’ inability to conduct thorough and detailed violation reports.
Read More: Election Оver, Something Not Right in the Country
“We have to underline our experience in these processes. We have a methodology developed over 300 elections, and the number of long term observers we have on the ground are sufficient to have a good conclusion,” responded Mr. Omar to CivilNet’s question regarding the representatives’ potential cooperation with local observer initiatives.
The representatives commented on the newly EU funded technologies that were installed in the polling stations. They mentioned that the live streaming cameras and fingerprinting technology is significant step towards increasing public trust in the electoral process.
On election day, majority of those cameras were not viewable online.
Within 2 months, the mission will present a final report with recommendations.
Read More: Voting Technology, Civil Society, Age of Apathy: Conversation with Armine Ishkanian
***
The international election observation mission comprises some 450 observers from 42 countries, including 340 long-term and short-term observers deployed by the OSCE/ODIHR, 66 parliamentarians and staff from the OSCE PA, 24 from PACE and 13 from the EP.
Their statement was delivered by Ignacio Sanchez Amor, Special Co-ordinator and leader of the short-term OSCE observer mission, followed by Liliane Maury-Pasquier, Head of the PACE delegation, Geir Jorgen Bekkevold, Head of the OSCE PA delegation, Heidi Hautala, Head of the EP delegation, and Ambassador Jan Petersen, Head of the OSCE/ODIHR election observation mission.
