It appears that voters with vision problems weren’t given magnifying glasses at polling stations in some rural communities during yesterday’s local elections.

Thus, relatives or friends had to cast ballots for them.

This was the case at polling stations in the villages of Shinuhayr, Tandzatap and Tatev. Magnifying glasses were supposed to have been made available but local officials just forgot about the matter.

Armen Stepanyan, president of the 37th polling precinct electoral committee in Syunik, told Hetq that magnifying glasses and Braille cards weren’t distributed due to cost concerns. They’re only allocated during nation-wide elections.

“Yes, I agree. They could have been distributed during this election but the issue was simply overlooked,” said Stepanyan.

The fact that such items were distributed during the December 6, 2015 referendum and that there was no need to be new ones, makes such oversight all the more egregious.

Stepanyan told Hetq that local officials never imagined that there would be a need for such devices.

“These items were made available at other elections. No one took into account the possibility that such problems would arise if they weren’t available,” Stepanyan said.

When asked if the absence of magnifying glasses proved to be an asset for certain candidates, given that they could thus gauge the mood of some voters by asking them, Stepanyan answered in the affirmative.

Photo: Armen Stepanyan