Garo Ghazarian, Vice Chair of the Armenian Bar Association in the United States, has stated that the May 6 parliamentary elections in Armenia were not free and fair.

Ghazarian was in Armenia for the elections and said that he witnessed a score of election violations, including seeing a young man handed out voting ballots to people out in the open.

“One man who took the ballot even turned around and said, ‘you forget to put the money inside’”, recounted Ghazarian.

Ghazarian visited polling stations in various rural communities and found campaign posters plastered on the walls of municipal buildings. He said that in the U.S., those local officials would be hauled off to jail and made to answer for their crimes.

“Sadly, in Armenia, no one is all that interested in taking the will of the people into account,” the attorney said.

Ghazarian said he was happy to see some degree of progress in Armenia since his last visit but noted that, “it is pointless consolation for a broken heart.”