THREE INTERNATIONAL OBSERVERS WALK INTO AN ELECTION, SEE . . .
- Any more it doesn't matterWho's right or wrong We've been injuring each other For much too long Kris Kristofferson – Nobody Wins Let us thank God for the OSCE and the CIS and any other acronym-ed international observation missions who come here every five years to tell us that the blossom of freedom gets lovelier every season and that things are just sweet as pie here election-wise.
Bless them. They come. They observe. They write meaningless reports. They go home. Where would we be without them?
If you read the reports of the observers, here’s what you know about Tuesday’s voting process:
• There were a few technical glitches• The counting process needs some improvement
If you believe what was reported on this website or on plenty others:
• Cash was paid for votes• Proxies were temporarily kidnapped• Proxies were beaten • Ballot boxes were stuffed (Personal favorite: by “workers” changing a light bulb in one station) • Soldiers were transported station to station to cast multiple votes• Citizens’ votes were monitored by their employers
Are we talking about different elections? (“Oh, sorry. You asked about ARmEnia? We thought you said ROmAnia.”)
No. It does appear, though, that after banging their multi-lingual heads against the wall for so many years telling outsiders just how screwed up things really are with the voting process here, the OSCE et. al. have changed the definition of “international standards”.
For example: The individual incidents of wrongdoing, the CIS report said, could not influence the final outcome. Translation: Let the brass knuckles fly, so long as enough bodies are left standing to constitute a majority.
No doubt there are improvements since the first times international observers were coming here. Ballots are more distinct; votes are deposited in transparent boxes; passports are stamped to indicate that a voter has already voted. Good.
But to endorse what happened Tuesday, as these missions have, requires lowering the bar on the democratic process to a level that neither Armenia nor any other country should brag about clearing.
It appears that none of the observer missions brought mathematicians with them. Otherwise there surely would have been mention of the staggering display of civic duty exhibited here on Tuesday.
So great is the process here, that, according to figures from the Central Election Commission, a bit more than 70 percent of the voting populace did the deed. Incredible as it is to think that 7 out of 10 hold their duty so sacred, the CEC is being modest. Let us clarify:
About 2.3 million Armenians are registered to vote here. But: That number includes about 500,000 (according to various estimates) now abroad who, for the first time with this presidential election, were not allowed to vote. That brings the number down to about 1.8 million. According to the CEC, nearly 1.7 went to polls Tuesday.
There’s the headline friends: “94 Percent Turnout in Mid-winter to Perform Patriotic Act.” International standards my hiney, that’s galactic!
Its shortsighted slight of Armenia’s patriotism aside, the OSCE report was spot on with one observation:
“Armenian authorities made genuine efforts to address shortcomings noted in previous elections.”
For sure they did. Having seen the shortcomings of 2003 when their fraud was not sufficient to avoid a runoff, this time around the authorities secured their power in the first vote through stepped-up efforts.
The learning curve shortens. Give us five more years, and the whole voting deal will be streamlined into a nod or a show of hands.
“. . . there is need,” the OSCE report says “. . . to tackle such concerns as lack of public confidence in the electoral process . . .”
Yes indeed there is. Thanks for pointing that out.
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Meanwhile, the latest round of allegations . . .
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- 1837 Creation of the Armenian Supreme Ecclesiastic Council in Echmiadsin - the Synod attached to the Catholicos of All-Armenians.
- 1909 Birth of Taras Toosoozyan in Yekaterinodar (now Krasnodar). He was a Major-General of the Soviet Army. He was the Military Commissar of the Armenian SSR from 1950 to 1969.
- 1931 The Central Affairs Committee decides to establish a Radio-Broadcasting Committee.
- 1932 Birth of architect Arthur Tarkhanyan in Leninakan (Gyoomree). He designed and implemented the "Tsitsernakabert" Genocide Memorial Complex, the "Airarat" (formerly "Rossiya") movie theater, the Palace of Youth, "Zvartnotss" Airport, and many other buildings.
- 1938 Birth of Artavazd Peleshyan in Leninakan (Gyoomree). He became a famous artist, State Prize Laureate, and a master of the documentary film genre .
- 1939 The Armenian Supreme Soviet awards the right to the Opera and Ballet Theater of Yerevan, to be called the Alexander Spendarian Opera and Ballet Theatre.
- 1960 The Armenian Theater Association in Beirut decides to be known as the Vahram Papazyan Association.
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