31st Session of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities – 19-21 October 2016

Speech by Liisa Ansala (Finland, ILDG), member of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities

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Information Report on the observation of local by-elections in Armenia (18 September 2016)

Strasbourg, 20 October 2016

Dear colleagues,

It is my pleasure to present to you today an outline of the Information Report which was prepared further to the Congress’ mission carried out recently, to monitor the local by-elections held on 18 September in Armenia. As you are aware, further to the invitation by the Armenian authorities, the Congress decided to deploy an Electoral Assessment Mission of limited scope - in total, the delegation comprised 15 members representing 11 European countries - from 14 to 19 September 2016. It was my honour to be Head of this delegation which included also two members of the EU Committee of the Regions, an electoral expert and members of the Congress’ Secretariat.

You may also know that the 2016 local elections in Armenia were dispersed throughout the year, with four regular Election Days (the elections on 18 September being one of them) and further six extraordinary Election Days. The last regular Election Day this year is to proceed on 11 December. This is specific feature of local elections organised in Armenia and I will take up on that issue later.

On 18 September, polling was organised in more than 300 Armenian Communities (out of currently some 900) and voters were invited to cast a ballot for both mayoral and councillor seats. In the majority of the municipalities both elections were held; 22 Communities voted only for the Mayor, 80 only for the Municipal Council. In total, seven Congress’ teams were deployed to the regions in which by-elections were organised on this day and visited, all in all, approximately 100 polling stations in Aragatsotn, Armavir, Ararat and Tavush. I myself was operating in the latter.

In general, our teams found that the elections were technically well-prepared, overall in line with international standards. With the exception of a few incidents, Election Day was calm and orderly. However, before I voice the delegations specific findings, I would like to contextualise the current political situation in which the elections took place.

The local by-elections of 18 September were the first elections organised in Armenia after the hostage crises at a police station in Yerevan involving a group of armed men which shook the country this summer. On 8 September, right before the local by-elections, the Prime Minister announced his resignation, saying the country needed a "new approach" after an economic downturn and weeks of violent protests.

At the same time, it is important to note that the local by-elections observed by the Congress were prepared and held during a period of electoral reform in Armenia entailing some uncertainties with regard to the legal framework with inevitable repercussions related to the general atmosphere in which these elections took place. The new Electoral Code and provisions to address, in particular, electoral fraud due to multiple voting and impersonation (this is what we usually call “phantom voters”), have been under discussion between the Government, the opposition, civil society and the Council of Europe Venice Commission over several months. These measures comprise, in a nutshell, the publication of lists of voters having participated in elections to make this information accessible to different stakeholders and the introduction of new technologies, for example the collection of voters’ fingerprints.

The local by-elections held on 18 September were still governed by the existing 2011 Electoral Code and consequently did not allow our teams to assess the effectiveness of measures foreseen to increase the transparency of the electoral process. The present Information Report - which has been made available to you - refers to the new legislation and it underlines that such measures need to be introduced with care since they may also be detrimental to voters’ trust in the secrecy of the vote and in the electoral process as such. 

In general, we can say that there was a very low level of political competition with many candidates withdrawing in the course of the campaign and, consequently, low public interest in the local by-elections conducted on 18 September. A more competitive atmosphere was noticed in larger Communities, whereas in smaller localities often only one candidate remained on the mayoral list contributing to the impression that voting at local level is a pure formality instead of a real contribution to the grassroots’ decision-making.  Furthermore, it is important to note that the amalgamation of smaller Communities to larger ones without a genuine process of consultation attributed to some discontent among Congress’ interlocutors.

Let me now highlight a few key recommendations stemming from our meetings with various interlocutors in Armenia, prior to the E-Day, and further to the concrete observations on 18 September:

·         Firstly, there is the recurring issue of those citizens who reside de facto abroad but remain on the Armenian Voter Register and thus on the voters’ lists. This situation has resulted in claims that these identities were usurped by other people who voted several times or were paid for their vote. In order to both avoid potential misuse and strengthen democracy at the grassroots level, the Congress’ believes that local issues should be decided by individuals who actually reside in a given municipality, having their center of vital interest in this place. The voters' lists should be modified accordingly.

·         Secondly, we invite the Armenian authorities to revise the electoral calendar and hold local elections only on one day instead of on several days during the year. We think that this could improve transparency and increase the public awareness for elections at the grassroots’ level.

·         Thirdly, there is the question of access to polling stations for elderly people and persons with disabilities and the grey zone of so-called “assisted voting” involving a disproportionate high number of cases of such voting in some polling stations. We believe that the authorities should address this issue and consider also providing mobile ballot-boxes in local elections.

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Armenia is currently in a transitional phase where these issues can be genuinely addressed. The fact that we from the Congress were the only international observers to assess the local by-elections is a proof of our conviction to stand by your country. The delegation invites the authorities to take the findings of our Report seriously into account, in order to build trust in the voting process and in the political system so as to ensure a genuinely democratic future for Armenia.

Thank you for your attention!