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Candidate Claims Fraud in Armenia Presidential Poll
© RIA Novosti. Alexey Kudenko
YEREVAN, February 18 (RIA Novosti) - Mass violations have occurred
during voting in Armenia's presidential election, a spokesman for one
of the candidates claimed on Monday, the Novosti-Armenia news agency
reported.
`Starting from 8:00 a.m., we have been receiving reports from polling
stations across Armenia of violations, in particular, of ballot
stuffing, control of the voting process,' election candidate Raffi
Hovhannisyan's press secretary Hovsep Khurshudyan told reporters.
Polling started at 8:00 a.m. and is scheduled to end at 8:00 p.m. on
Monday. Seven candidates are standing for the presidency, which
according to opinion polls is likely to be won by incumbent leader
Serzh Sargsyan.
`There are also reports of disappearing stamps in citizens'
passports,' Khurshudyan added, while showing journalists that the
stamp indicating a person has voted can easily be removed with a wet
napkin.
Khurshudyan said Hovhannisyan's campaign headquarters has reported all
the violations it registered to the relevant law enforcement agencies,
whose officials assured him the information would be dealt with
according to the law.
Armenia's Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan, who has already voted,
claimed the election has been going smoothly and all measures have
been taken to `rule out any doubts that the vote is free and
transparent.'
Armenian presidential candidate Paruir Hairikyan was shot in the
shoulder last month, in an apparent assassination bid. He initially
asked for a deferral of the vote, but later withdrew his appeal to the
country's Constitutional Court to postpone the election by two weeks.
© RIA Novosti. Alexey Kudenko
YEREVAN, February 18 (RIA Novosti) - Mass violations have occurred
during voting in Armenia's presidential election, a spokesman for one
of the candidates claimed on Monday, the Novosti-Armenia news agency
reported.
`Starting from 8:00 a.m., we have been receiving reports from polling
stations across Armenia of violations, in particular, of ballot
stuffing, control of the voting process,' election candidate Raffi
Hovhannisyan's press secretary Hovsep Khurshudyan told reporters.
Polling started at 8:00 a.m. and is scheduled to end at 8:00 p.m. on
Monday. Seven candidates are standing for the presidency, which
according to opinion polls is likely to be won by incumbent leader
Serzh Sargsyan.
`There are also reports of disappearing stamps in citizens'
passports,' Khurshudyan added, while showing journalists that the
stamp indicating a person has voted can easily be removed with a wet
napkin.
Khurshudyan said Hovhannisyan's campaign headquarters has reported all
the violations it registered to the relevant law enforcement agencies,
whose officials assured him the information would be dealt with
according to the law.
Armenia's Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan, who has already voted,
claimed the election has been going smoothly and all measures have
been taken to `rule out any doubts that the vote is free and
transparent.'
Armenian presidential candidate Paruir Hairikyan was shot in the
shoulder last month, in an apparent assassination bid. He initially
asked for a deferral of the vote, but later withdrew his appeal to the
country's Constitutional Court to postpone the election by two weeks.