OSCE Office assists the election process in Armenia

YEREVAN, 3 February 2003 - The OSCE Office in Yerevan is arranging for transparent ballot boxes to be provided to Armenia for use during the coming presidential and parliamentary polls, on 19 February and 25 May respectively.

Under a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed between the OSCE Office in Yerevan and the Central Electoral Commission (CEC) of Armenia today, 2000 transparent ballot boxes, sufficient for all voting stations, will be provided to the CEC.

Production is already underway and the boxes should reach Yerevan on 11 February. The costs of transporting the boxes to territorial electoral commissions outside the capital are also covered.

The initiative has been made possible through international financial assistance, the main contributor being the Federal Republic of Germany.

Stressing the importance of the assistance provided by OSCE, Artak Sahradyan, the CEC Chairman, said, "In my opinion, transparent ballot boxes may be viewed as a symbol of transparency during the elections and will contribute positively to the public perception of the process".

Within its mandate, the OSCE Office in Yerevan has been assisting Armenian authorities on improving the electoral system. In co-operation with the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), substantial work has been carried out on improving the Armenian Electoral Code.

"It is yet another step towards developing democratic society and increasing rule of law in Armenia," said Ambassador Roy Reeve, Head of the Office at the signing ceremony.

Since 2002, the OSCE Office in Yerevan has taken a leading role in co-ordinating the activities of the International Working Group on elections. The group includes the Council of Europe, the United Nations and other interested organizations and participating State embassies.

Following local elections on 20 October 2002, a number of embassies, the UN, the International Foundation for Elections Systems, and the Head of the OSCE Office signed an open letter to the Chairman of the CEC, which underlined areas of concern and encouraged the CEC to take necessary measures to improve the situation.

One of the areas suggested - to improve voter lists - has already being tackled by the OSCE Office in Yerevan. An Armenian NGO is working with local communities to convert voter lists into a consistent computer programme which will be standardised throughout the country. Verification of the data is also carried out. The work is being done in co-operation with the CEC, the Ministry for Territorial Administration, and local communities in Armenia.

With financial assistance from the Netherlands, the UK, the Open Society Institute, the Swiss Agency for Development and Co-operation, the Eurasia Foundation and the ODIHR among other bodies, nine of the largest communities in Armenia have gone through this process in preparation for the presidential elections. More communities will join them in the lead up to the parliamentary elections.