VZCZCXRO3145
RR RUEHDBU RUEHLN RUEHSK RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUEHYE #0390 1591407
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 081407Z JUN 09
FM AMEMBASSY YEREVAN
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 9155
INFO RUCNCIS/CIS COLLECTIVE
RUEHNO/USMISSION USNATO 0756
RUEHLMC/MILLENNIUM CHALLENGE CORPORATION WASHINGTON DC
RUEHAK/AMEMBASSY ANKARA 1797
RUEHIT/AMCONSUL ISTANBUL 0805

UNCLAS YEREVAN 000390 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O.12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PHUM PREL KDEM KJUS AM
SUBJECT:  ARMENIAN NGOS DECRY ELECTION FRAUD 
 
REFS: A) YEREVAN 382 
B) YEREVAN 372 
 
¶1.  (SBU) The independent "It's Your Choice" (IYC) NGO, which 
claimed to have deployed observers in each of Yerevan's 439 polling 
places, cited ballot stuffing, multiple and illegal voting, voter 
intimidation, presence of unauthorized personnel, and other 
procedural violations in its preliminary report issued on June 2. 
IYC also deplored pre-election violence, vote-buying and 
pro-government parties' reliance on "administrative resources" as 
well as their overwhelming control of precincts' election 
commissions.  The report stated that the May 31 elections "further 
deepened voters' disappointment with political parties and electoral 
processes."  Although IYC noted a "small improvement" in this 
election over the various local government elections held in Yerevan 
in 2008, it declared that "there are no sufficient grounds to 
believe that these elections passed the threshold of democratic, 
fair and transparent elections."  Harutyun Hambardzumian, IYC's 
head, identified Yerevan's Malatia-Sebastia district for being the 
scene of the largest number of irregularities. 
 
¶2.  (SBU) The local "Unison" NGO, with 96 observers monitoring the 
election at 53 polling stations in the Kentron district, also noted 
open voting, directing voters who to vote for, physical assaults, 
and the presence of unauthorized people inside and outside of the 
polling stations. 
 
¶3. (SBU) The local Helsinki Committee (HC) NGO fielded 100 observers 
who monitored 40 polling stations in Yerevan's Arabkir district, and 
also gave a dim account of the conduct of the vote, with its head, 
Avetik Ishkhanian, commenting that "these were traditional Armenian 
elections ... that have never been free and fair."  But Ishkhanian 
noted that HC's monitors encountered comparatively fewer 
irregularities in Arabkir than monitors in other precincts, 
commenting that "there was no large-scale electoral fraud in 
Arabkir."  According to HC, a major problem was voter crowding at 
polling places, which resulted in a loss of control.  HC also 
observed police officers participating in the vote count. 
Ishkhanian said his observers noticed "people coming and going with 
lists of voters," as well as voters attempting to vote with a copy 
of their passport or someone else's passport. 
 
¶4.  (SBU) The national chapter of Transparency International (TI) 
joined the other NGOs in assailing the election, with its 
chairperson Amalia Kostanian announcing June 1 that the "electoral 
system of Armenia was ruined after yesterday's election."  Kostanian 
declared that "the whole process was accompanied by infringements of 
a different scale, and there was great crowding and stuffing at 
polling stations."  Kostanian decried the election in 
Malatia-Sebastia as the "most immoral."  TI representatives stated 
that they witnessed ballot stuffing, bribery, and violence against 
observers and journalists, among other things. 
 
YOVANOVITCH