Watchdog Alarmed By Discrepancies In Armenian Vote Results

Armenia’s leading anti-corruption watchdog on Friday expressed serious concern at discrepancies in the official results of the recent parliamentary elections registered in hundreds of precincts.

The Anti-Corruption Center (ACC), the Armenian affiliate of Transparency International, cited official data on the number of voter signatures, ballots cast and coupons issues by voter authentication devices that were installed in the 2,000 or so polling stations across the country.

“There are 393 precincts where the number of signatures did not match that of valid and not valid ballots cast,” said Varuzhan Hoktanian, the ACC director for programs. “This was particularly eye-catching in the Alaverdi precinct No. 24/35, the Arinj village precinct No. 29/29 and the Aruch village precinct of the Aragatsotn province where the discrepancies stood at 16, 13 and 11 respectively.”

In 170 other precincts, Hoktanian went on, the signatures did not match the number of coupons that were meant to prevent multiple voting.

The Central Election Commission (CEC) has downplayed the differing figures, saying that they are inevitable inaccuracies that could not have influenced the vote results that gave a landslide victory to the ruling Republican Party of Armenia (HHK).

Hoktanian, whose organization monitored the April 2 elections together with other civic groups, dismissed the CEC explanation. “If there are such discrepancies, they must be investigated,” he told reporters.

In a report released on Monday, the ACC claimed that vote buying was decisive in the HHK’s victory. The watchdog also accused the party headed by President Serzh Sarkisian of illegally using government resources in its election campaign.

Western observers mostly deployed by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe said on April 3 that although “fundamental freedoms were generally respected,” the elections were “tainted by credible information about vote-buying, and pressure on civil servants and employees of private companies.” But they did not report significant instances of other violations such as multiple voting or ballot stuffing.

The United States and the European Union echoed the findings of the OSCE-led mission, while cautiously praising the overall conduct of the vote.