Illiterate young people needed 'help' to vote in local elections (video)
The Sunday elections in three enlarged communities of Armenia were held without major violations, the opinion was voiced on February 17 during a discussion on the local elections in the Yerevan-based Media Centre NGO. Nune Hovhannisyan, a member of the Central Election Commission, Vahan Movsisyan, Chairman of the Communities Finance Officers Association (CFOA), and Haykak Arshamyan, Program Coordinator at Yerevan Press Club said residents of Lori, Syunik, and Tavush have for the first time true earnest interest in local elections and chosen mayors after the recent enlargement of their communities. Haykak Arshamyan stressed that great work had been done before the elections. “There is no need to defame anyone. For example, voter turnout in Tumanyan community was 56 percent, and no one was forced to go to the polls and cast a ballot for a definite candidate, as is the case during the national elections,” he stressed. However, Mr Arshamyan said there is still a major concern connected with the organization of voting process. “About 70 voters in Tumanyan town voted with the help of other people. Of course, the law allows it, and you cannot do anything, but the problem is that there were many young people among these 70 voters. They came and said, “This young man is illiterate and needs someone to help him,” Haykak Arshamyan said.
