20.00 - Throughout the country, the polling stations have closed; the election is over. The commissions have begun the process of tabulation.

19.45 - When asked by journalists, Galust Sahakyan, campaign manager for the Republican Party, mentioned several irregularities that had taken place, according to party representatives. We point out that this was preceded by ARF statements accusing the Republicans. In particular, they said that Republican Napoleon Azizyan had demanded open-ballot voting, and that there had been intimidation in other polling stations. According to one journalist, the ARF is preparing a document demanding that results in two precincts be invalidated. Galust Sahakyan stated that he has different information pointing in the opposite direction.

In his turn, Sahakyan mentioned several violations connected to the ARF. In precinct#30, 20 or 30 ARF members were circling around intimidating people, claiming that there were violations going on. They mentioned Vahan Hovhanissyan’s name. A written complaint was submitted to the CEC.

And in precinct #4, ARF members demanded that open-ballot voting be conducted. The commission intervened and a complaint was registered.

On the evening of May 24th, residents ofMoldovakan Streetin the Nork 2nd Massive called the Republicans saying that a group of young men were knocking on doors and calling on people to vote for the ARF, although campaigning was no longer allowed.

In Precinct #94, in the polling station at School #84, the principal of the school, who is neither a member of the election commission nor a proxy, was present on the school premises. The principal is a member of the Orinats Yerkir Party.

After providing all this information, Galust Sahakyan said, “I don’t think the elections are being conducted with irregularities - there is no significant tension.”

19.30 - Information has come in from Polling Station #33/22 in thevillage ofTsovagyugh in the Gegharkunik Marz that as of 6:30, the ballots had run out. Those who came to the station to vote after that were unable to do so.

19.20 - Our correspondent Karine Simonyan reports from Alaverdi:

The proxies of Hamlet Tamazyan, a candidate in Precinct #40, registered that Hovhannes Kochinyan and the mayor of Alaverdi were making the rounds of almost all the polling stations.

In Polling Station #11/70 in Precinct #44, voters cast ballots that had not been stamped. The commission members weren’t preventing voters from voting more than once.

19.00 - At 2:00 p.m. in Precinct #45 in the Kotayk Marz, candidate Hovhannes Hovhanissyan, who is the current chairman of the Parliamentary Commission on Foreign Relations and head ofArmenia’s delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe recalled all his proxies from the polling stations and declared that he refused to participate further in the race. (Haykakan Zhamanak)

18.25 - The ARF headquarters reports:

At 11:00 a.m. local observer Samvel Nercissyan was beaten in Precinct #12 while monitoring the voting. According to Argishti Kiviryan, who is a proxy of candidate Versand Hakobyan, the observer was beaten by the brother of another candidate in the precinct, Harutyun Gharagyozyan. Kiviryan told us that Nercissyan presented a complaint to the Shengavit district police. He was subsequently sent toYerevanHospital#6 for medical tests. Kirivyan also said that in a number of polling stations, in particular #02/57, #02/67, and #02/72, the proxies of Harutyun Gharagyozyan are armed, and they don’t even conceal it from the members of the commission or the police. “There have been a number of instances of violence, as a result of which the atmosphere in the polling stations is extremely tense. It is worth mentioning that the commission chairmen use any excuse to refuse to register the written complaints of the proxies,” Kiviryan said.

18.00 - Our correspondent Taguhi Hakobyan reports from the headquarters of the Ardarutiun Bloc:

In the polling station located in Kindergarten #19, the local commission chairman is campaigning for Khachatur Sukiasyan.

Money is being handed out at the headquarters of Precinct #18 candidate Gevorg Hakobyan (Animal Fodder Vlad). There is a long line at the scene.

Near Polling Station #28/35 in Precinct #10, at the local headquarters of Vladimir Badalyan, election bribes are being distributed.

In Precinct #17 in the Erebuni district of Yerevan, Republican Party representatives are transporting voters in Route 81 microbuses.

In Polling Station #95/35 in Precinct #9 in Spitak, an instance of ballot box stuffing was registered.

In polling Station #57/12 in Precinct #2 the chairman, his deputy, and the secretary of the local commission took the stamp to the chairman’s home and came back 40 minutes later.

There was a scuffle between supporters of Ashot Osipyan and Rafik Petrossyan in Precinct #3.

In Polling Station #14/59 in thevillageofMayisyan, proxies were ejected for conducting open-ballot voting for Ashot Aghababyan.

A large number of policemen are gathered outside Polling Stations #10/19 and #10/20 in Precinct #2. They are shoving the proxies around.

17.50 - Press conference in the Asparez Journalists’ Club

At 2:00 p.m. a press conference was held in the Asparez Club by candidates in Precinct #48 Ashot Zakaryan (Ardaturiun Bloc, Republic Party) Shaliko Zoryan (Armenian National Movement), and Robert Zakaryan (Citizen’s Initiative). The purpose was to inform the press of the irregularities they had registered in Precinct #48.

According to Ashot Zakaryan, in 10 out of 14 polling stations in Precinct #48 in Gyumri, as of 8:00 a.m. it was already clear that the stamps had been used. In 8 out of these 10, through the efforts of the proxies of the candidates, the ink was replaced. In Polling Station #14/39, the proxy of the other candidate, Ashot Aghababyan, was attempting to participate in the voting process without proper authorization. This was prevented and registered in the election journal. The international observers were informed.

In Ashotsk, in parallel to the voting, active campaigning on behalf of Agababyan has been taking place. The campaigner is local Deputy Prosecutor Armik Hovhannisyan. He openly suggests voting for his candidate and tells people that if he is not elected, they will have to deal with him.

In one polling station in Gyumri, which has more than 1000 voters, there were two ballot boxes instead of three. Only after complaints were made and journalists were called in did the third ballot box appear in the station.

It was noted that all these irregularities were conducted by the proxies of the same candidate, Ashot Aghababyan.

The other candidates intend to present all the information in their possession to the Prosecutor’s Office of the Shirak Marz. They did not rule out that by 8:00 p.m. they would make a statement calling for the results of the election to be declared invalid.

It is worth mentioning that in Precinct #48, three commission members appointed by the president are not from Gyumri or, for that matter, from Shirak, but fromYerevan.

Yeranuhi Soghoyan

17.45 - In Polling Station #14/50 in Precinct #48 of Gyumri, the members of the local election commission appointed by the president and the Republican Party have been campaigning on behalf of candidate Ashot Aghababyan, and voters have been casting their ballots only after showing them to those commission members.

According to our information, in thevillageofDzorakapin the Artik region (Precinct #50), as of 5:00 p.m., no one had participated in either the parliamentary elections or the constitutional referendum. According to residents of Dzorakap, their boycott is connected with the decision by the election commission not to register Maralik resident Arsen Avagyan in Precinct #50. (A. Galoyan)

17.30 - According to information released by the Central Election Commission at 5:00 p.m., 720,243 people, constituting 31% of the electorate, had participated in the elections.

17.20 - In Precinct #12, Polling Station #02/66, located in school #52 inYerevan, voting is stopped at the moment, because candidate Rafik Khatchatryan’s proxies managed to catch people stuffing the ballot box in favor of Harutyun Gharagyozyan. A scuffle ensued between the proxies of Khatchatryan and Gharagyozyan.

In polling station #02/60 in the same precinct, located in school #98, Gharagyozyan’s proxies beat up Artarutiun Bloc proxy Hovhannes Vartanyan. Vartanyan had tried to prevent instances of ballot box stuffing. This was reported by the information center of the People’s Party. (Haykakan Zhamanak)

16.20 - In Precinct #3 an incident took place between the supporters of two candidates. The supporters of candidate Ashot Osipyan and Rafik Petrossyan started to argue in Polling Station #00/53, and it led to a scuffle outside the station. The cause was a case of illegal voting- in the morning an old woman arrived with a ballot paper already in hand. It was discovered that the ballot had been given to her by the United Labor Party.

16.10 - The ARF member of the local election commission in Precinct #22, Polling Station #05/89 withdrew from the commission after he was left alone in the station and was unable to prevent irregularities. As the ARF campaign headquarters informed us, Henrik “Jonik” Abrahamyan, the Republican Party candidate and brother of Minister of Local Governance Hovik Abrahamyan, has openly committed numerous violations in order to secure his victory.

The ARF intends to challenge the results of the voting in this precinct.

15.55 - Mher Yeghiazaryan, the Azatakan Bloc’s Syunik campaign manager informs us that in the communities of Precinct #51, which includes the town ofSisian and surrounding villages and a few villages near Goris, even today, Election Day, some officials - school principals, heads of village administrations - are using official cars to distribute money on behalf of the Republican Party. (Haykakan Zhamanak)

15.45 - The campaign headquarters of Precinct #13 candidate Karapet Rubinyan reports that there are a great number of people gathered near polling stations #02/94 and 02/90. They are calling on people to vote for the representative of the Orinats Yerkir Party, Grisha Margatyan, known as Bellagio Grish. Markaryan’s supporters are bringing voters to the polling stations in microbuses.

15.40 - Armine Petrosyan from Kapan’s Sosi TV Station reports:

Surik Hovsepyan, Roman Navasardyan’s proxy, was illegally ejected from Polling Station #17/05 in Precinct #53.

In a number of polling stations, stamps that had been delivered wet with ink are being used, and the commissions have refused to register the complaints submitted.

15.30 - The editor of Ankyun +3 TV Station, Hrach Papinyan, reports from Alaverdi:

In Precinct #40 in Airum the stamps were delivered unsealed. The Ardarutiun Bloc proxy demanded that this fact be registered, but commission members refused.

In the Engels district of Alaverdi, alarms have been raised that the ballots of citizens who didn’t vote for Hovhannes Kochinyan (Lori Marzpet Henrik Kochinyan’s brother) are not being stamped.

15.15 - The law prohibits campaigning today, but cases of open campaigning are being reported. 
A resident of Building #10 in the Kanaker Power Plant district informed us that at 10:30 a group of minors were distributing campaign brochures for the Orinats Yerkir Party to residents.

15.10 - The ARF election campaign headquarters reports:

According to Taron Tonoyan, the ARF candidate in Precinct #44, in a number of polling stations in the precinct – Arzni, Ptghni, Vedi – numerous violations have been observed, in particular open-ballot voting. “The heads of village administrations who support Orinats Yerkir candidate Aram Harutunyan enter polling stations on his behalf and disrupt the voting,” Tonoyan said, and added that written complaints were submitted that were signed by all the proxies and commission members except for the commission chairmen.

Taron Tonoyan noted that the irregularities began yesterday, when during the counting of the ballots, the ARF representative on the commission was summoned by the Byureghavan chief of police. This groundless summons contributed to the fact that the counting was conducted in the presence of the head of the Byureghavan village administration. When the ARF member returned, the counting had already been done.

14.30 - Andranik Nersisyan from the ARF campaign headquarters in Precinct #22 reports that Garnik Abrahamyan, the brother of Minister of Local Governance Hovik Abrahmyan is committing many violations in Polling Station #05/87 inAintab and Polling Station #05/89 in Arevabuir in order to secure his victory.

He has been trying to disrupt the voting and threaten the voters right in front of the chairmen of the commissions and the proxies.

Asked whether the proxies of other parties are trying to resist, Andranik Nersisyan said that if the ARF representatives can do little stop it, the others can do even less. At the same time, the ARF was able to bring the situation under control, but it soon became destabilized again, to the extent that the proxies were ejected from the polling stations.

”And all this is going on right in front of the police and national security officers, who, being supported by Hovik Abrahamyan, have done nothing to reestablish law and order.”

13.30 - We learned from the campaign headquarters of Myasnik Malkhassyan, a candidate in Precinct #20, that the deputy prosecutor general ofArmenia, Aghvan Hovsepyan, is in the headquarters of Lyova Khatchatryan, a candidate in the same precinct, and is in fact coordinating the work there. Hovsepyan calls in the employees of the prosecutor’s office system and instructs them what to do on behalf of Khatchatryan. Khatchatryan, by the way, is running in disregard of the election code. Malkhassyan’s headquarters presented the local election commission in Precinct #20 with a document stating that Lyova Khatchatryan has been registered as a resident ofAstrakhan in theRussian Federation since 2000, and thus could not have been a permanent resident ofArmenia for the last five years. Nevertheless, the local commission refused to invalidate Khatchryan’s candidature. (Haykakan Zhamanak)

13.10 - The ARF central headquarters reports:

According to the ARF campaign headquarters in the Lori Marz, Vram Gyulzadyan, the majoritarian candidate for the Orinats Yerkir Party, is trying to destabilize the situation in Precinct #38 of Stepanavan and the Taron district of Vanadzor. As Martun Matevosyan, a candidate from the same precinct, informed us, Vram Gyulzadyan has been entering the polling stations and disrupting the voting process by attempting to hold open-ballot voting to check the results of the election bribes he distributed yesterday, and to find out who is voting and how.

Officers of the law stepped in to stop Gyulzadyan.

13.00 - Siramarg Ghazaryan reports:

In Polling Stations #33/22 and #33/23, the elections are not going on. Head of Village Administration Gevorg Tovmassyan and candidate Khachik Petrossyan’s friends Vagharshak Grigoryan and Hrant Madatyan have been intimidating voters and beating up proxies. The ballot boxes are already stuffed, and the villagers are afraid to go to the polling stations.

12.50 - According to Serzhik Mkrtchyan, head of the Kanaker-Zeitoun regional office of the National Unity Party, in the polling station located in School #181 in Precinct #5, 700 ballots that had not been signed by members of the commission were discovered at 9:00 a.m. A formal written complaint was submitted in the presence of OSCE observers. (Haykakan Zhamanak)

12.50 - The ARF central office reports:

As Artsvi Minassyan, ARF majoritarian candidate in Precinct #30 reports, in Polling Station #08/31 in thevillageofMrgashat, the head of the village administration and his supporters are entering the polling station and threatening local commission members, on behalf of the Republican candidate. “So far, only the ARF representatives have attempted to prevent these illegalities. The proxies from other political parties are indifferent, which suggests some kind of agreement,” Minassyan said, informing us that there were observers present in the station at the time who registered these facts. According to Minassyan, the instances of open voting that occurred before are still going on, but the local commission chairman, Abraham Harutunyan, refuses to sign officially submitted complaints. In this polling station they are using a stamp that had been used prior to the voting, as is also registered in the complaints.

The ARF campaign headquarters informs us that in Polling Station #02/64 in Precinct #12, the stamp was used prior to the voting, and the ballot count revealed that fewer ballots than required had been delivered. The ARF representative submitted a formal complaint.

12.45 - Our correspondent Karine Simonyan reports from Alaverdi:

Roman Navasardyan, proxy of Surik Hovsepyan, was ejected from Polling Station #17/05 in Precinct #53 without any explanation. In several precincts stations they are using stamps that were delivered with ink on them already, and they refuse to register this and to give copies to the commissioners in the polling stations as required by law.

12.35 - President Robert Kocharyan was shown on three TV stations simultaneously. The president, accompanied by his family, voted in Polling Station #03/51 in Precinct #16 at 11:00. After casting his vote, the president took questions from reporters. “We should of course avoid irregularities. It is hard to keep the entire country under control, simply impossible,” Kocharyan said when asked about voting irregularities. The president ruled out the possibility of including the opposition in a future coalition government. “A coalition government means that several political forces unite to take joint responsibility for the executive power. If the opposition takes part in this coalition, then it is no longer the opposition. The opposition cannot be part of a coalition government,” Kocharyan said.

12.30 - Our correspondent Takuhi Hakobyan reports from the headquarters of the Ardarutiun Bloc:

Money is being distributed to the residents of80 Totovents Streetin the 2nd Nork Massive on behalf of candidate Mkrtich Minassyan.

15 minutes ago, in the proximity of building #28 in the second row of the 16th quarter, policemen attempted to arrest Smbat Ayvazyan’s campaign manager. OSCE observers were informed of the incident.

A group of people is blocking the view of the proxies in Polling Station #03/32 located in School #39.

12.20 - Siramarg Ghazaryan reports:

At 8:00 in thevillageofTsovagyugh, a gang of village toughs led by Hrant Madatyan burst into Polling Station #33/22. They terrorized the proxies of candidate Mayis Sarkissyan, and forcibly threw them out of the station.

In Polling Station #33/23, Village Adminisration Head Gevorg Tovmasyan is openly marking ballots and putting them into the ballot box, right befor the eyes of the members of the local election commission. Chairman of the Commission Henrik Hakobyan tore up a written complaint submitted by Mayis Sarkissyan’s proxy, director of the Sevan TV Station, Garnik Markaryan.

In both polling stations, proxies are being intimidated and blackmailed, and people are being forced to vote for Khachik Petrossyan.

12.15 - In Polling Station #05/72 in Precinct #34 (School 2 in Vardenis), the military are openly voting for the Republican Party candidate. The ARF local headquarters informs us that ARF proxies’ appeals to the police have been ignored, and nothing has been done about this. (Haykakan Zhamanak)

12.10 - A candidate in Artashat Precinct #22, Aramais Barseghyan of the People’s Party ofArmenia, informed our correspondent that in all the polling stations there was already ink on the stamps, and open carousel voting was taking place on behalf of Henrik “Jonik” Abrahamyan, brother of Minister for Local Governance Hovik Abrahamyan. We were also informed of general carousel voting in Artashat Precint #23 by Artarutyun Bloc (Republic Party) candidate Tigran Petrosyan. (Haykakan Zhamanak).

12.00 - Our correspondent Karine Simonyan reports from Alaverdi:

As of 9:30 in precinct #40 in the community of Neghot, 25 voters had cast their ballots, four of whom who had entered the booth accompanied by someone else. When the fifth pair was entering the booth, the Ankyun+3 TV crew approached them. The man accompanying the voter explained that was bringing him his passport, but he didn’t have a passport with him. The ballot was not invalidated.

As of 10:05, we were told by Precinct #40 candidate Hovhannes Kochinyan’s headquarters that they didn’t think that there had been any irregularities. When we told them that there had been illegal interventions in the voting process in Polling Station #11/79, the campaign manager said those were minor incidents. “The most important thing is that they vote, and it doesn’t matter whether the voting is open or closed.” Hovhannes Kochinyan is a member of the Republican Party.

Ankyun +3 TV Station has observed show that proxies and commission members don’t always know their rights and obligations, and in village communities especially, they cannot prevent irregularities.

Voter Nora Manukyan of Alaverdi came to Ankyun +3 station at 10:30 and told them that when she and her husband were on their way to the polling station, a car approached them. A woman unknown to the couple offered them 500 drams each to vote for Kochinyan. When Manukyan refused the money, the woman asked, “Will it kill you to take 1000 drams?” The couple informed the local commission.

11.45 - The campaign headquarters of Karapet Rubinyan states that in Polling Stations #02/99 and #02/94 in Precinct #13, the stamps already had ink on on them when they arrived.

11.40 - The Haykakan Zhamanak daily newspaper reports that in Precinct #11, Polling station #02/51, the Artarutiun Bloc’s proxy informed their correspondent that the chairman of the local commission is openly campaigning for Hakob Hakobyan, known as Lady Hakob, and accompanies all the voters to the voting booth. Incidentally, Ashot Bleyan, chairman of the Nor Ughi Party, is a candidate in the precinct.

11.30 - Our correspondent Taguhi Hakobyan reports the following from the Ardarutiun Bloc headquarters:

In Precinct #43 in the Kotchor district of Hrazdan (Polling Station #12/87) representatives of the Republican Party beat up all the proxies of other candidates. The OSCE observer mission was informed of the incident.

In Polling Station #03/67 in Precinct #16, policemen are walking around the room where the voting is being held, ignoring proxies demands that they leave the room.

Voter lists were not delivered to Polling Station #08/59 in Gegharkyunik until 10:30 a.m. The chairman of the local commission is a Republican Party member and brother of the head of the village administration.

Only after numerous demands were voter lists delivered to Polling Staion #08/60 in Precinct #31 at 9:30 a.am.

In Precinct #22 in Ashtarak all the stamps, which are supposed to be delivered in sealed envelopes, had already been unsealed.

In Polling Station #03/39 in Precinct #15, 100 ballots were missing from each of three sets of ballot (majoritarian, proportional and referendum). The commision chairman refused to conduct a recount of the ballots.

In Polling Station #02/51 in Precinct #11, the commission chairman makes suggestions guiding the voters.

In Polling Station #02/96 in Precinct #13, there are no safes available. The commission chairman took the ballot papers home.

In Polling Station #02/15 in Precinct #10, the stamp was already wet when it was delivered (suggesting that it had been used).

At the orders of Precinct #18 candidate Gevorg Hakobyan, known as Animal Fodder Vlad, the voters are brought to the polling stations by bus. Each voter receives 1000-2000 drams.

11.10 - The election headquarters of the Ardarutiun (Justice) bloc states that yesterday evening the chairman of the local election commission of Polling Station #02/96 in Precinct #13 of Shengavit took the ballots home with him, explaining that there was no safe in the polling station. OSCE observers have been on the scene since this morning.

10.45 - The local election headquarters of the ARF Dashnaksutiun in Precinct #33 was informed that in thevillage ofTchambarak military personnel was marking ballots with green pens to keep the process under control. A representative of the ARF submitted a formal written complaint.

10.15 - Artsrun Minassyan, a candidate in Precinct #30, raised the alarm that in thevillage ofBambakashat, there was an attempt being made to conduct open-ballot voting. Member of Parliament Vahan Hovanissyan went to the scene to check the situation.

Taron Tonoyan, a candidate in precint #44, was informed that open-ballot voting is going on in thevillageofArzni. Tonoyan’s proxy submitted a formal written complaint.

9.45 - In Polling Station 11/79 of Precinct # 40 (Alaverdi), the chairman of the local commission, Gohar Avetyan, took from a voter the ballot he had already marked and instructed him how to fold it. In the process, she checked who he had cast his vote for. The voter and proxies for candidate Hamlet Tamazyan protested, and a heated argument ensued. The incident was filmed by the Alaverdi Ankyun+3 TV station. The chairman of the commission threatened to call the police.

9.15 - In Precinct #5 of the Zeytoun district of Yerevan (the polling station is located on the premises of kindergarten #181), a representative of the Republican Party of Armenia (RPA) stole a stack of ballot papers. Representatives of the ARF Dashnaktsutiun caught the violator and a scuffle ensued. Representatives of both parties are now gathered near the polling station.

8.00 - At 8 a.m. on Sunday, May 25, 2003 the polls opened for parliamentary elections and the referendum on constitutional amendments in the 1,885 precincts ofArmenia. According to the Central Election Commission (CEC) there are 2,317,945 registered voters. There are also 36 precincts in 26 foreign countries.

11 international and 29 local organizations have been accredited by the CEC to monitor the elections. There are 410 international observers - among them 214 representing the OSCE/ODIHR, 48 observers from the CIS, and 37 from the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE). There are also 4,500 local observers monitoring the process. According to the Election Code of theRepublicofArmenia, the preliminary results of the elections must be published by the CEC no later then 28 hours after the polls close.