Republican, prosperous Armenia and Orinats Yerkir parties made most of violations at yerevan elders council election : observers
06.05.2013,
18:44
Violations at Yerevan Council of Elders election were mainly made by the ruling Republican, Prosperous Armenia and Orinats Yerkir parties, chairman of “Center of electoral systems” NGO Vahram Vardanyan said Monday, Novosti-Armenia reported.
YEREVAN, May 6./ARKA/. Violations at Yerevan Council of Elders election were mainly made by the ruling Republican, Prosperous Armenia and Orinats Yerkir parties, chairman of “Center of electoral systems” NGO Vahram Vardanyan said Monday, Novosti-Armenia reported.
Yerevan Council of Elders election was held on May 5 at 464 polling stations in 12 administrative districts of the capital. According to the preliminary data, the Republican Party of Armenia won the vote (55.86% or 235, 512 votes). The electoral threshold was also passed by Prosperous Armenia with 23.05% or 97, 189 votes and “Hello, Yerevan!” bloc (8.47% or 35,732 votes).
Vardanyan said the observers signaled ballot stuffing or theft during the election.
He assessed the election as decent and as another step towards democracy.
“Our watchdog highlighted close cooperation between the members of the electoral commissions,” he told reporters.
On his side, Atom Mkhitaryan, chairman of Union of Youth Clubs, said 38 observers from his organization visited minimum of 100 polling stations and recorded congestion of people nearby and inside some polling stations.
“Heads of some electoral commissions haven’t passed the necessary training, and we reported the cases when they “helped the voters,” he said.
Mkhitaryan clarified the observers paid attention to gender and age distribution at polling stations.
“In the first case, we reported the equality, while there were less young people,” he said and added that as a whole he was satisfied with the poll.
Over 6,600 local observers from 27 organizations and international watchdog from Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe were monitoring the election.
The following parties failed to enter Yerevan Council of Elders: Armenian National Congress (18, 499 or 4.39%), ARF Dashnaktsutyun (15, 999 or 3.79%), Orinats Yerkir (15, 733 or 3.73%) and Araqelutyun (Mission) (2,692 or 0.64%).
The Council of Elders is made up of 65 members who are elected through party lists. If a party or a bloc gains 50% of the vote, the top candidate of the list automatically becomes Yerevan Mayor. Otherwise, Mayor will be elected by the Council members. The minimal threshold for parties is 6%, for blocs-8%.—0-
