ANC: Another crime committed by the ruling regime
By the level of violations, the May 5 elections did not differ from the previous ones held by the current government, the opposition Armenian National Congress (ANC) said in a statement issued late on Sunday.
"Traditional electoral violations have been registered across the city. Those included vote buying, ballots directed and guided by local thugs sponsored by the ruling Republican Party of Armenia (RPA), repeated voting, carousel, ballot-box stuffing, crowding at polling stations, intimidation of voters, etc.
If we take into account the inflated voter lists, the number of absentees and their substitution by ‘voters' from provinces and neighboring countries, we can say that the announced 56% voter turnout reported in Yerevan City Council election in fact amounted to 80-85% - something incredible even in case of national election.
"The City Council election has become yet another crime committed by the ruling regime against democracy and the people of Armenia for which the ruling political force and its leaders will will be held accountable," reads the statement.
The preliminary results of Sunday's polls show the RPA winning the election with nearly 56 percent of the vote. Seven political forces were participating in the election with only three of them being able to clear the 6-percent threshold. These forces are the RPA, Prosperous Armenia Party (PAP) and Barev Yerevan bloc.
