International Observers Call for ‘Further Democratic Consolidation’ after Yerevan Elections

YEREVAN (RFE/RL)””Further democratic consolidation is needed in Armenia also outside the polling stations, a 10-member electoral assessment team representing a Council of Europe body said after concluding its mission in observing the May 14 elections to Yerevan’s Council of Elders.

Liisa Ansala, the head of the team from the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe that also included two representatives from the EU Committee of the Regions, said that on Election Day they visited some 100 polling stations in different administrative districts of Yerevan where they could also assess the implementation of both the new legal framework and the new electronic system to identify voters and prevent fraud that was used in Armenia for the second time after the April 2 parliamentary elections.

According to a statement issued by the team from Strasbourg, the Voter Authentication Devices (VADs) were functioning smoothly throughout the whole voting procedure.

The team also noted the installation of web cameras in all polling stations in order to prevent electoral fraud as well as the publication of signed voters’ lists after the elections “since the accuracy of the voters’ lists and voter impersonation were among the long-standing challenges of the electoral management in Armenia.”