Open Letter to the Conference of the Electoral Legislation

At the conference, the leader of the election laws of the ARF faction Mr. Vahan Hovhannisyan presented an open letter, which reads:

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Every time in Armenia election begins next stage, especially before the parliamentary elections, our society is witnessing the same pattern already rather tiresome. Authorities are beginning active work to improve the Electoral Code in the direction of its improvement, and the tabulation under European standards. And every time the noise of this intense activity is inaudible natural question of society – and that kept improving and bring it to European standards in the last time? Or before last before the election? Or even earlier, immediately after receipt of the relevant authority? After the power has not changed throughout the period. But the question again will remain in the range of rhetorical and society will again be represented by a heroic fight scene for a couple of formal changes in legislation.

Although there is no need for the heroic struggle. If the authorities really want by reforming the Electoral Code to improve the quality of elections, not fraud, to ensure the accuracy of election results, rather than the impunity of authors of violations, you must make at least one thing.

Need to make lists of registered voters participating accessible, i.e. declassify lists, signed by the voters. Of course, I am far from thinking that this is the only required change, but without it all other reforms have no meaning, they will not give any tangible results, cannot ensure fairness and transparency. If they were declassified, our older voters who live in villages on the day after the election would be surprised to find that their polling stations voted secretly returned home, their children and relatives who have long lived abroad, residents of Yerevan in the lists of voters would find the unknown neighbors and residents of Gyumri and Vanadzor was surprised to find that decades of empty and locked up the house full of people, and they copied the signature they would meet at various polling stations and so on.

These unworthy and trampling our national dignity would reveal violations. This would ensure transparency in this election.

This proposal does not sound the first time. He was repeatedly represented our party, but it is always rejected by the authorities under the pretext of confidentiality elections. I repeat: under the pretext, as the main reason is different, and I think everybody understands that.

Moreover, the confidentiality of the voter turnout was purely formal in nature. Judge for yourself: when the country is about two thousand polling stations at each polling station during elections there are seven members of the committee, two or three dozen agents of parties and candidates, observers representing various missions. We will add more police officers, journalists, and the voters. A simple arithmetical calculation will show that the participation of citizens in the elections to some extent known at least a quarter of a million people, not to mention the television broadcast from the polling stations. And that’s fine, so it should be, because a secret should not remain a fact of participation in elections (his less than possible), and the voice – that for whom citizens vote. If it had not been such a sense and principles of democratic elections, the democratic countries did not operate to the norm of compulsory participation of citizens in elections, when the fact of participation or avoidance specifically recorded and does not constitute any secret.