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Thursday, 20 February 2003

INTERNATIONAL OBSERVERS CRITICIZE ARMENIAN VOTE

Published in News Digest

By empty (2/20/2003 issue of the CACI Analyst)

In a joint statement released on 20 February before the runoff was announced, election monitors from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and the Council of Europe said that the 19 February Armenian presidential election \"fell short of international standards in several key respects,\" RFE/RL\'s Armenian Service reported. The statement said that while the voting process was in general \"well-conducted,\" there were instances of ballot-box stuffing and \"serious irregularities\" during the vote count. OSCE Observation Mission head Peter Eicher noted a \"striking disparity\" between voter turnout and official results at some polling stations but declined to comment on whether such irregularities could affect the outcome of the vote.
In a joint statement released on 20 February before the runoff was announced, election monitors from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and the Council of Europe said that the 19 February Armenian presidential election \"fell short of international standards in several key respects,\" RFE/RL\'s Armenian Service reported. The statement said that while the voting process was in general \"well-conducted,\" there were instances of ballot-box stuffing and \"serious irregularities\" during the vote count. OSCE Observation Mission head Peter Eicher noted a \"striking disparity\" between voter turnout and official results at some polling stations but declined to comment on whether such irregularities could affect the outcome of the vote. (RFE/RL)
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