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Municipal Elections Document Date: 1996

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Municipal Elections Document Date: 1996 Date Printed: 10/28/2008 JTS Box Number: IFES 1 Tab Number: 14 Document Title: Armenia: Technical Assistance, November 10. 1996 Municipal Elections Document Date: 1996 Document Country: Armenia IFES ID: R01514 * D~I~~I~ A E .." ... .. ~. ,--.--~--- ;".,~-"'- ."',. , ,",. J .' " " f~: ' ,: j ".~~~~ ,"'- , , L :F '0 ~ . " ~, .. ", . ,~ [ ,~ " , " ;:..-, ' ;1,. ~ " . ,..... "', ". ·'if... .. ,~.: .. , .:>;,j,,~ " PLEASE DO NOT REMOVE FROM RESOURCE CENTER I I I I Armenia I Technical Assistance November 10,1996 Municipal Elections I I I By: Ann Gardner I Christopher Shie!ds Jim Stover I I Edited by: Alexandra M Levaditis I I I I II-7ES I ~ International Foundation for Election Systems 1101 15th Street, N.W., Third Floor I Washington, D.C. 20005 phone: (202) 828-8507 fax: (202) 452-0804 I I I I Contents I Executive Summary................................................................................ 1 I I. Introduction ....................................................................................... 4 I II. Local Election Process ....................................................................... 8 I III. Election Preparation ........................................................................ 9 IV. Voting Process .................................................................................. 17 I V. Completion of Voting ........................................................................ 19 I VI. Observers ........................................................................................... 25 VII. Recommendations ........................................................................... 31 I VIII. Conclusion ...................................................................................... 37 I I I I I I I I I I I I Executive Summary I Project Background. The current IFES Electoral Reform Project was initiated by a February 1996 request from the Chairman of the National Assembly, Babken Ararktsyan, to the u.s. I Ambassador to the Republic of Armenia, Peter Tomsen. The purpose of the request was to seek assistance in the preparation of the election laws governing the presidential and municipal elections scheduled for Fall 1996. The project was a follow-up to the 1995 IFES Technical I Assistance Mission to Armenia in connection with the National Assembly elections and Constitutional Referendum. The 1995 election and referendum were marred by charges of fraud and intimidation, and numerous questions were raised by both international and domestic I monitoring groups regarding the fairness and transparency of the process. I IFES placed Christopher Shields on the ground in Yerevan, Armenia, as Project Manager in late February 1996. He was joined by Election Administration Specialist Ann Gardner in March 1996. Election Law Consultant Mark Braden of Baker & Hostetler of Washington, DC and an I outside counsel to the U.S. House of Representatives for election law, provided additional expertise to the Mission. I The IFES/Armenia Mission. The Mission's charge for 1996 was to serve as a technical information resource, to provide assistance to the National Assembly on election law development, to direct technical assistance to the Central Electoral Commission (CEC) in the I form of specialized election administration assistance, to conduct high-impact voter education outreach, and to strengthen the NGO community. With these goals in mind, IFES: I • developed and distributed a training manual for Precinct Electoral Commission members; I • conducted instruction seminars for election officials in all 11 regions of Armenia; • conducted voter education through the production and distribution of over 40,000 I infqrmational posters and fliers; and • produced a series of "Town Hall" forums which brought representatives of the CEC to ·1 the Armenian public to explain the Law on Elections for President for the Republic of A rmenia on local television, reaching over 1 million people in ten of the eleven regions. I Currently, the Mission is working on the development of a universal electoral code for all future elections in Armenia, as well as a series of other electoral reform projects, including continued voter education and information programming focused on increased citizen participation in I building and strengthening democratic institutions. I I 1 I I I Review and Assessment. In the aftermath of the 22 September presidential election and the civil . unrest which followed', IFES conducted a full review of its programming options and elected to remain active in the effort to improve the electoral system and its administration by continuing I its assistance to the Central Electoral Commission. A comprehensive list of areas of critical concern, based on eyewitness observations of the IFES I Mission 'during the 22 September election, was prepared and is included in Section VII. Recommendations. These recommendations are based on the overall events during the elections, provisions of the law in place at the time of the elections, and observations at the polling places, I and address the following areas: • Electoral Commission Accountability I • Training Curriculum for Electoral Commission Members " • Removal of Electoral Commission Members I • Future Municipal Governance Structures • Pre-Election Campaign-Media I • Preparation of Voter Lists I • Ballot Accountability • Procedure for Invalidating Ballots I • Unauthorized Persons in Polling Places I • Announcement of Final Results I • Recount Provisions • Appeals Process I • Domestic Observers I • Election Law Violators I 'Appendix 1, IFES Technical Assessment Report, Armenian Presidential Election, issued 8 October I 1996. 2 I • I I I • Political Party Law I • Commonality Issues I • Transparency A continuation of the IFES Election Administration training was determined necessary, although, as with the presidential election, promises by the Yerevan Regional Electoral Commission (REe) I to facilitate participation by precinct commission chairmen were never fulfilled. Electoral Process. First stage municipal elections were conducted on 10 November, with second I stage elections scheduled for 24 November. Not all communities were able to complete the election process by 24 November due to lack of candidates, court challenges, or, III one I community (in Yerevan), because election officials refused to hold the election. IFES Access. The IFES Mission was granted open access to all electoral commissions at all levels. I As noted above, the CEC granted the Mission access to all precincts for the purpose of conducting technical observation. The results of the observations were compiled into a memorandum I presented to CEC chairman Khachatour Bezirjian2. Election Day. Permission was sought from and granted by the CEC to allow the IFES Mission to conduct technical observation of the 10 November first-stage Municipal Elections. The I observations were conducted in 21 precincts within the Yerevan and Aragotsotn regions. I I I I I I I 2 Appendix 2. I 3 I .---------------- I I I. Introduction I A. Scope of Project As part of the overall IFES Mission to Armenia, technical assistance was planned for both the 22 I September Presidential Election and the 10 November Municipal Elections. This assistance was provided to the Central Electoral Commission (CEC) in the form of technical advice, voter I education materials, election administration training programming and materials, and other items as requested. In addition to the technical assistance, IFES provided on the spot assessments of I proposed regulations, election day processes, and other issues. Following the Presidential and Municipal Elections, IFES prepared a series of recommendations for the parliamentary Committee for State and Legal Issues. This committee has been mandated I with responsibility for election laws by the Law on Regulations for the National Assembly. I B. Country Background Armenia is the only former Republic of the former Soviet Union to acquire independence under the provisions of the Constitution of the Soviet Union, via referendum in 1991. At the same I time, Levon Ter-Petrosian, a leader of the Karabakh Committee, was elected President by a wide majority. Armenia was regarded as a leader among the former Republics in terms of democratic development. However, subsequent outbreak of hostilities between Armenia and Azerbaijan I over the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh territory, and the resulting blockade by both Turkey and Azerbaijan, forced Armenia into a siege environment which disrupted normal democratic I development. Six months prior to the July 1995 parliamentary elections, President Ter-Petrosian unexpectedly I issued a decree banning the Armenia Revolutionary Federation-Dashnaktsyn (ARF) on the basis of allegations of terrorism and threats to overthrow the government by force. The ARF was, at the time, one of the most vocal and organized opposition parties in the country and had been I expected to do well in parliamentary elections. The ban, which was supposed to be effective for only six months, remains in effect more than two years later. I The parliamentary elections, held in conjunction with the referendum on the new constitution, were observed by the United Nations (UN) and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). A domestic observer organization consisting of five non-governmental I organizations (NGOs) under the umbrella organization of "Vote Armenia" also took part in observing the election. The resultant reports of those organizations alleged numerous cases of I voter and
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