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2007 Assessment

Armenia: Integrity Indicators Scorecard

Armenia: Integrity Scorecard Report > Sub-Category: Election Integrity
Indicators		Score
17	In law, is there an election monitoring agency or set of election monitoring agencies/entities?	100
18	Is the election monitoring agency effective?	60
19	Are elections systems transparent and effective?	50

Indicator and sub-Indicator Details

In law, is there an election monitoring agency or set of election monitoring agencies/entities?

17: In law, is there an election monitoring agency or set of election monitoring agencies/entities?

Score:

YES

Comments: In practice, some non-profit organizations like "Voting is Yours" are allowed to monitor the elections, however their roles are weak influences on elections' integrity.

References: The Electoral Code of the Republic of Armenia www. parliament.am www.arlis.am

Is the election monitoring agency effective?

18a: In law, the agency or set of agencies/entities is protected from political interference.

Score:

YES

Comments:

References: The Constitution of the Republic of Armenia Electoral Code www.parliament.am

18b: In practice, agency (or set of agencies/entities) appointments are made that support the independence of the agency.

Score:

100

Comments:

References: Interview with Stephan Danielyan, chairman of Collaboration for Democracy Union (August 8, 2007, at his office) Media reports

18c: In practice, the agency or set of agencies/entities has a professional, full-time staff.

Score:

100

Comments:

References: Interview with Stephan Danielyan, chairman of Collaboration for Democracy Union (August 8, 2007, at his office) Personal experience working at the regional agency

18d: In practice, the agency or set of agencies/entities makes timely, publicly available reports following an election cycle.

Score:

100

Comments:

References: Monitoring report on 2007 Parliamentary elections Interview with Stephan Danielyan, chairman of the Collaboration for Democracy Union (August 8, 2007, at his office)

18e: In practice, when necessary, the agency or set of agencies/entities imposes penalties on offenders.

Score:

100

Comments: From thousand of offenders only 16 impose penalties after the 2007 parliamentary elections. (Aravot daily newspaper, August 1, 2007, p.3)

References: 2007 Parliamentary elections observation "Aravot" daily newspaper, August 1, 2007, p.3 Interview with Stephan Danielyan, chairman of the Collaboration for Democracy Union (August 8, 2007, at his office)

Are elections systems transparent and effective?

19a: In practice, there is a clear and transparent system of voter registration.

Score:

100

Comments: There are many cases when in the voter lists citizens could not find their names or they found the names of other "ghost" persons who did nott exist and lived in their address.This personnaly happened with me during the recent elections.

References: 19 a See, "Aravot" daily newspaper, May , 11 p.3 "Voter's list is not complete", May 13, 2007, pp..2-5, May 14, 2007, p 3, May 19, 2007, p.3, May 25, p.3

19b: In law, election results can be contested through the judicial system.

Score:

YES

Comments:

References: The Electoral Code of the Republic of Armenia www.arlis.am

19c: In practice, election results can be effectively appealed through the judicial system.

Score:

100

Comments: In fact, the election results can be claimed by the citizens at results of elections citizens can appeal at Court or political parties can appeal to Constitutional Court of Armenia. However, as it has happened before, there is very little likelihood that a court or even the Constitutional Court will be ready to fairly solve electoral appeals as all this is controlled by government. (Aravot daily newspaper, "I am ordering to vote," May 3, 2007, p.4; Interview with Stepan Danielyan, chairman of" Collaboration for Democracy Union)

References: Media report and election observations Interview with Avetik Ishkanyan, chairman of the Helsiki Committee of Armenia on Human Rights (August 9, 2007, at his office)

19d: In practice, the military and security forces remain neutral during elections.

Score:

100

Comments: In reality no military and security forces remain neutral during any elections. For example, during last election the military forces had strict order by Serzh Sarkisyan the Primer Minister of Armenia and former Minister of Defense to vote for Republican Party which is governing party in Armenia. As to "Aravot' daily newspaper the former Deputy Minister of Defense Arthur Agabekyan ordered to vote for pro-governmental party "Dashnaktsutyun" See "Aravot", May 3, 2007, p.4

References: Aravot" daily newspaper, "I am ordering to vote", May 3, 2007, p.4 Interview with Stepan Danielyan the chairman of" Collaboration for Democracy Union"

19e: In law, domestic and international election observers are allowed to monitor elections.

Score:

YES

Comments:

References: The Electoral Code of the Republic of Armenia www.arlis.am

19f: In practice, election observers are able to effectively monitor elections.

Score:

100

$Scoring Criteria :: 100 Score Criteria: Election observers have unfettered access to polling sites, counting stations, and voters themselves. The government does not interfere with the observers\' activities. <p>50 Score Criteria: Election observers generally have access to polling sites, counting stations, and voters but encounter restrictions in certain areas. The government may impose burdensome regulatory or bureaucratic requirements on observers to discourage their involvement. <p>0 Score Criteria: Election observers\' movements are significantly limited by the government and many polling and counting sites are restricted or barred from observers. The government imposes so many bureaucratic or regulatory burdens on the observers that their mission is rendered ineffective.$

Comments: In some cases, the bureaucratic hitches were posed to local observers from opposition parties.

References: Parliamentary Election Monitoring Report 2007