Check against delivery
Strasbourg, France, 25 October 2023
Dear colleagues,
I am very pleased to present to the Chamber of Local Authorities the report on the observation of the elections to the Council of Elders of Yerevan, Armenia, held last month on 17 September 2023. Due to the short deadlines and the importance of a timely debate on this report, it was recently submitted to the Monitoring Committee via written procedure.
The Congress delegation which I led was constituted of 14 observers from 11 countries and was deployed from 15 to 18 September. Despite these elections being held only in Yerevan, it was very important for the Congress to deploy observers on site, as the mission to observe the 2021 partial local elections had unfortunately to be held remotely because of the COVID pandemic. I participated in the 2021 mission and I can say that we were satisfied to see some of our recommendations being addressed on the ground.
In preparation of the election day, the delegation met various stakeholders including representatives of the Central Election Commission and the municipality of Yerevan, but also diplomats, domestic and international NGOs and the head of the delegation of Armenia to the Congress. The delegation also held meetings with contestants running in these elections.
What we observed was a low-key but polarised campaign, with most contestants divided along the lines of pro versus anti-government. The elections were perceived as a test for the ruling party and its handling of the negotiation with Azerbaijan. Local topics were often overshadowed due to security concerns understandably expressed by many voters and contestants. Regrettably, many lists did not provide voters with programmes based on local priorities and in line with the competencies of the Council of Elders of Yerevan. Let me reiterate that local elections should remain a mean for voters to decide on priorities impacting their daily lives. This overall situation contributed to dissatisfaction and to the lack of interest in local elections, particularly among young voters as reflected in the lowest turnout ever recorded in Yerevan.
In addition, the delegation regretted allegations of campaigning before the official period, misuse of administrative resources and bias in the public media benefitting the ruling party. Other parties were also reported to make promises of personal gifts to voters. Large differences in amounts spent for campaigning were also noted.
With a view to ensure a level playing field, the delegation recommends inter alia to implement the existing legislation and to better investigate and sanction the misuse of administrative resources. In addition, we invite the authorities to strengthen the oversight of campaign and party finance, including during the period preceding the official campaign.
Let me now turn to the election day: seven Congress teams visited some 112 randomly selected polling stations in Yerevan from opening until closing and counting. Overall, we observed a calm, peaceful and well-managed Election Day without major inconsistencies or anomalies. Opening and counting were handled in a very professional manner in all polling stations visited. Citizen and party observers were present in most polling stations and shared this positive assessment, which was also reflected in the wide acceptance of the results by all contestants.
We recognise that the improvements brought by the amendments to the Electoral code and the efforts of the CEC contributed to strengthen the electoral framework and to reinforce safeguards to eliminate the possibilities of fraud. These welcomed changes included the introduction of specific trainings for polling station presidents and secretaries. And on that matter, we suggest making training compulsory for all polling station commissioners to further standardise the electoral procedures.
The delegation noted that, with the support of the CEC, voter identification devices and video cameras functioned seamlessly throughout the election day, reducing opportunities for fraud and reinforcing the trust of voters in the electoral process. We also welcomed the introduction of separate ballot papers, which contributed to increase readability and reduced the possibility of carousel voting. On the other hand, the use of these ballot papers, generated some unexpected issues on the right for voters to abstain or due to the instructions for declaring a vote valid in case of multiple papers being cast in one envelope. These issue swill need to be better addressed in the future.
Despite an overall positive assessment, we still witnessed some issues, some of them longstanding and noted by previous Congress delegations. First of all, most polling stations observed were not wheel-chair accessible, despite some efforts by the CEC. We were also informed that mobile ballot boxes were not envisaged in the case of local elections, despite being used for national elections. Combined with the lack of accessibility of polling stations, the delegation regretted that the current situation did not provide the same opportunities to all voters. Therefore, the draft recommendation invites the authorities to improve the accessibility of polling stations and their surroundings and to standardise the deployment of mobile ballot boxes for all elections.
In addition, the delegation reiterated concern on the underrepresentation of women as head of candidates list, the impossibility for candidates to run independently in proportional races, the publication of signed registers in the days following the vote and a persistently large number of voters residing de facto abroad who were registered on the voters lists. Based on these observations, we recommend to
- undertake a review of the voters lists,
- consider alternatives to the publication of signed voters lists to ensure the secrecy of the participation,
- provide further incentives to strengthen the participation of women at local level,
- introduce legal provisions to allow independent candidates to run in local elections.
Last but not least, the Congress delegation invites the authorities to give serious consideration to the establishment of a unified election day at local level throughout the country to further raise voters’ awareness on local democracy.
I look forward to our discussion and invite you to adopt the draft recommendation. Thank you for your attention.