Department of State's Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs

Regarding the November 27 Referendum

29 November 2005

The United States share the regret of the Council of Europe, whose observers
called into serious question the voter turnout figures for the referendum
reported by the Armenian government...


www.hra.am/eng/?page=issue&id=15521

Council of Europe:

Constitutional Referendum in Armenia: General Compliance Marred by Incidents of
Serious Abuse

29 November 2005

The extremely low voting activity did not correspond to the high figures
provided by the electoral commissions...


www.hra.am/eng/?page=issue&id=15512

Armenian Observers Slam ‘Undemocratic’ Referendum

29 November 2005

Armenia’s largest election-monitoring organization It’s Your Choice condemned on
Tuesday the government’s handling of the weekend constitutional referendum,
citing widespread fraud reported by its observers...


www.hra.am/eng/?page=issue&id=15522

Opposition Issues Referendum Ultimatum

29 November 2005

The Armenian opposition again rallied thousands of supporters in Yerevan on
Tuesday, giving the authorities until Friday to nullify the weekend referendum
or face more street protests against its allegedly fraudulent results.

Opposition leaders declined to specify what exactly they will do after the
authorities almost certainly reject the ultimatum. Some of them renewed their
pledge to force regime change by means of a “democratic revolution.” But they
have so far failed to gather what they call a “critical mass” of supporters
needed for the success of the effort...


www.hra.am/eng/?page=issue&id=15517

State Radio Denies Political Motives For RFE/RL Broadcast Disruption

29 November 2005

Armenia’s state-run Public Radio ruled out on Monday any political reasons for
the effective disruption of the RFE/RL Armenian service’s main news program that
was broadcast on Sunday evening.

Most of the program, retransmitted by the radio on its two FM frequencies, was
inaudible throughout the broadcast that began at 7 p.m. local time. It mainly
featured news reports from Yerevan on voting in Armenia’s constitutional
referendum. Their authors noted, in particular, a sharp contrast between the
official voter turnout and largely empty polling stations in Yerevan and nearby
regions...


www.hra.am/eng/?page=issue&id=15516

Preliminary Data: 93.3% of Armenian Residents Vote "For" Amendments to the
RA Constitution

28 November 2005

The overwhelming majority of Armenian residents voted "for" amendments to the RA
Constitution, say CEC data for November 28 morning.

CEC Chairman Garegin Azaryan told ARMINFO that by 8:00 am on November 28 the CEC
had already received data from 1,947 of 1966 polling stations. 1,503,867 of the
2,301,278 voters registered in this polling stations participated in the voting
(63.5%). 1,403,430 electors (93.3% of the total number of voters) voted for the
amendments, 80,944 (5.4%) voted against them. Due to heavy snow and snowstorm,
the data of the polling stations in several mountainous areas are not accessible
so far. However, these data are to arrive shortly, Garegin Azaryan said. No
complaints have been received either during the voting or after it, CEC
reports...


www.hra.am/eng/?page=issue&id=15511

Official Referendum Turnout Contrasts With Empty Polling Stations

27 November 2005

Voters were eerily absent from polling stations across Yerevan and surrounding
regions on Sunday afternoon despite official figures that put the Armenian
authorities on track to pass the legal threshold for pushing through their
constitutional amendments.

According to Central Election Commission (CEC), just over a million people, or
43.5 percent of Armenia’s 2.3 million eligible voters took part in the
constitutional referendum as of 5 p.m. The CEC put the nationwide turnout at
26.1 percent at 2 p.m., claiming that as many as 400,000 Armenians flocked to
the polls in the next three hours.

The Armenian opposition, which has called for a popular boycott of the vote, was
conducting a separate voter count. Opposition representatives said that less
than 250,000 people across the country took part in the referendum by 5 p.m.,
accusing the authorities of grossly inflating the turnout.

The opposition not only boycotted the referendum but also effectively withdrew
from all electoral commissions, giving the authorities complete control over the
process. The bulk of the ballots cast were thus likely to be “yes” votes. The
authorities need at least 767,000 such votes to declare the Western-backed
amendments adopted...


www.hra.am/eng/?page=issue&id=15509

Hovannisian Says Armenian Referendum ‘Beyond Law’

25 November 2005

Raffi Hovannisian, one of Armenia’s most popular opposition leaders, declared
the weekend constitutional referendum illegitimate on Friday as he held his
first-ever rally in Yerevan marked by an unusually heavy police presence.

Hovannisian charged that the Armenian authorities have already made a free and
fair vote impossible and said only a minority of voters will back their draft
constitutional referendum on Sunday...


www.hra.am/eng/?page=issue&id=15504

Protesting Again

24 November 2005

On November 24 the residents of the Northern and Main Avenues, tenants of the
Dalma gardens and a number of citizens protesting against compulsory receiving
of social cards gathered at the government building...


www.hra.am/eng/?page=issue&id=15502