Tuesday, June 28, 2022
No Result
View All Result
Asbarez.com
NEWSLETTER
ՀԱՅ
  • Home
  • Top Stories
  • Community
  • Arts & Culture
    • Art
    • Books
    • Music
    • Theatre
    • Critics’ Forum
  • Op-Ed
    • Editorial
    • Opinon
    • Letters
  • Columns
    • By Any Means
    • My Turn
    • Three Apples
    • Community Links
    • Critics’ Forum
    • My Name is Armen
    • Living in Armenia
  • Videos
  • Sports
  • Home
  • Top Stories
  • Community
  • Arts & Culture
    • Art
    • Books
    • Music
    • Theatre
    • Critics’ Forum
  • Op-Ed
    • Editorial
    • Opinon
    • Letters
  • Columns
    • By Any Means
    • My Turn
    • Three Apples
    • Community Links
    • Critics’ Forum
    • My Name is Armen
    • Living in Armenia
  • Videos
  • Sports
No Result
View All Result
Asbarez.com
ՀԱՅ
No Result
View All Result

OSCE Observer Details Voter Fraud in Armenia

by Contributor
March 11, 2013
in Armenia, Featured Story, Latest, News, Top Stories
6
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
Voters cast their ballots during the Feb. 18 presidential elections

Armenian presidential election observer of OSCE and former Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Ireland Dermot Ahern sent a letter to Armenian Bar Association Chairman Garo Ghazarian detailing fraud he witnessed during the February 18 election, particularly in Precinct 26/1, where he claims a landslide for Raffi Hovannisian was converted into a victory for the incumbent.

Below is the text of the letter:

Dear Garo Ghazarian, Chairman of the Armenian Bar Association

March 5, 2013

You might remember that we spoke at length on the plane from Yerevan to Paris, just after the presidential election. I indicated to you that I felt uneasy about what happened in the polling station and in the TEC that I observed on the day of the election.

To recap, I and my German colleague Hedda Haars observed six polling stations during the day and as instructed by the OSCE core team, we finished observing the election in PEC 26/1 Yeghvard Elementary School No 3. From what we saw, from 7 PM to the close at 8 PM, everything was done correctly.

The presiding officer and team proceeded to count the votes.  Again, everything was done in accordance with the instructions.  The presiding officer showed to everyone, including ourselves, our interpreter, our driver as well as a proxy on behalf of the incumbent, every vote once he had taken it from the envelope.

Immediately, it transpired that Raffi was hovering up the votes.  This caused some surprise with the local participants.  Indeed, it became somewhat embarrassing in that virtually every vote was for Raffi.  Every odd time, a vote came out for the incumbent, there was a slight laugh from some of the locals.  On and on, it continued with Raffi getting virtually all of the votes.  The proxy for the incumbent was tallying in a very methodical way and I could see clearly from his tally that Raffi was way ahead. In fact, he actually ran out of paper, Raffi got so many votes over the incumbent.  At about 9:15 PM.  I sent a text to my principal to say that with 30 percent of the votes counted Raffi was at least 3 to 1 ahead.

During this time and up until when we left, a number of invalid votes were declared. For instance, one vote was declared invalid because the voter had voted for everyone, except the incumbent.  Another vote was invalid because the voter voted for somebody who previously contested an election, but not this one.  A number of other votes were declared invalid because they did not have the correct mark or indeed no mark at all.  I estimated that there were more than 10 during our time there between 8 PM and 10 PM when we left for the TEC.

By the time we left, we both agreed that with approximately 35% of the vote counted, Raffi was ahead by at least 3 to 1. We proceeded to the TEC 26 in Yeghvard and introduced ourselves to the TEC team.  The conditions of the location for tabulation at this location were far from ideal.  It consisted of two rooms separated by a corridor which meant that I stayed in the room where the chair and deputy chair met with the PEC teams as they came in with their results.  My colleague Hedda stayed in the other room where a secretary entered the results from the various protocols.

I was given very little cooperation by the TEC team in that they did not offer any information to me as to the PEC teams coming in with their protocols.  The lack of space made it particularly difficult for me to see anything.  I had to ask for information, any time I wanted it.  My interpreter and driver indicated to me that the team were somewhat uneasy about our presence.

When the results came in from number 26/1, I particularly was interested and asked for the result.  This wasn’t forthcoming, but my interpreter got to see the protocol and indicated that the incumbent had beaten Raffi by 382 to 302 approximately. I was astonished by this apparent turnaround since we left the count.  I tried to get more information, to no avail.

However, my interpreter then told me that he noticed on the protocol that there were zero invalid votes.  I was completely taken aback by this, and I asked my interpreter to let the chair know about my astonishment.

Between then and when we finally finished the tabulation observation at approximately 3:30 AM, I was given little or no cooperation.  I finally asked if I could see the final written result and the chair refused.  I met up with my colleague Hedda who had expressed satisfaction with what she had seen in the other room, in that the results were properly put onto the computer.  I suggested that she might ask the chairman herself for a copy of the protocol.  But again he declined waving his hands in the air.  We asked if they would be publishing the result and his reply was in the morning.  We immediately left. We filled out the necessary form for the OSCE, having kept in constant contact with them during the night.

I’ve been practicing politician here in Ireland for 32 years, contesting and winning every election I personally fought in.  I was director of elections board at national and local level for my party. I have never witnessed anything like this.  From my experience, I know a trend, when I see one, and something very strange happened to overturn the result, after we left the count in PEC 26/1.

As I stated to you, I feel that full re-examination of this count should take place.  I could not understand then and still now how invalid votes can become valid.

If you require any further information please do not hesitate to contact me.

Dermot Ahern
2013 presidential election observer of OSCE  in Armenia, former Minister of Foreign Affairs and former Minister of Justice and Law Reform of the Republic of Ireland.

Contributor

Contributor

Next Post

Hovannisian Begins Hunger Strike

Comments 6

  1. MK says:
    9 years ago

    This is Armenia for you today under reign of corrupt serzh and his RPA party thugs.

    Unless and until they are all thrown out by the people and put on trial for their criminal activities nothing can and will change in Armenia.

    The west and Russia want such a corrupt leader to stay in power as it suits all their designs and agendas in the region,namely concessions on Artsakh issue,the treacherous Turkish protocols to stay on the table as it suits the USA.

    Russia to have a monopoly on Armenia’s mines and other minerals,keep its military base there,in other words we have allowed ourselves to become the tools of these foreign powers and criminal serzh is their executioner.

    I haven’t even touched on the subject of the rampant corruption in all spheres of this regime,injustices on a daily basis,terror, where people loose their lives and properties,fraud in all elections to date,and the net result has been that people are leaving Armenia by the thousands, only in the last 5 years under corrupt serzh over 300000 people have voted with their feet and left Armenia.

    This is treachery at the highest level.

    Reply
  2. Steve says:
    9 years ago

    Outrageous! No presidential election can be considered legitimate with this type of blatant evidence of outright fraud. Time for a real election is now!

    Reply
  3. Alex Postallian says:
    9 years ago

    So,how are the Armenians going to answer Mr.Ahern.

    Reply
  4. MAZOD says:
    9 years ago

    what a mess. what a crooked, corrupt country ours is. the first “Christian nation”. LOL these scoundrels steal and murder their own people instead of educating and strengthening our country to fight our enemies.

    WHAT! A!! MESS!!!

    Reply
  5. Sevag says:
    9 years ago

    Sounds like the election machines in Floirida have reached Armenia

    Reply
  6. Ani says:
    9 years ago

    Then what? What are we going to do? This is the question.

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recommended

Menendez, Schiff Alarmed that Biden Again Approves U.S. Military Aid to Azerbaijan

Menendez, Schiff Alarmed that Biden Again Approves U.S. Military Aid to Azerbaijan

7 hours ago
Press Boycotts Pashinyan’s ‘News Conference’

Press Boycotts Pashinyan’s ‘News Conference’

9 hours ago

Connect with us

  • About
  • Advertising
  • Subscribe
  • Contact

© 2021 Asbarez | All Rights Reserved | Powered By MSDN Solutions Inc.

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Top Stories
  • Community
  • Arts & Culture
    • Art
    • Books
    • Music
    • Theatre
    • Critics’ Forum
  • Op-Ed
    • Editorial
    • Opinon
    • Letters
  • Columns
    • By Any Means
    • My Turn
    • Three Apples
    • Community Links
    • Critics’ Forum
    • My Name is Armen
    • Living in Armenia
  • Videos
  • Sports

© 2021 Asbarez | All Rights Reserved | Powered By MSDN Solutions Inc.

Accessibility

Accessibility modes

Epilepsy Safe Mode
Dampens color and removes blinks
This mode enables people with epilepsy to use the website safely by eliminating the risk of seizures that result from flashing or blinking animations and risky color combinations.
Visually Impaired Mode
Improves website's visuals
This mode adjusts the website for the convenience of users with visual impairments such as Degrading Eyesight, Tunnel Vision, Cataract, Glaucoma, and others.
Cognitive Disability Mode
Helps to focus on specific content
This mode provides different assistive options to help users with cognitive impairments such as Dyslexia, Autism, CVA, and others, to focus on the essential elements of the website more easily.
ADHD Friendly Mode
Reduces distractions and improve focus
This mode helps users with ADHD and Neurodevelopmental disorders to read, browse, and focus on the main website elements more easily while significantly reducing distractions.
Blindness Mode
Allows using the site with your screen-reader
This mode configures the website to be compatible with screen-readers such as JAWS, NVDA, VoiceOver, and TalkBack. A screen-reader is software for blind users that is installed on a computer and smartphone, and websites must be compatible with it.

Online Dictionary

    Readable Experience

    Content Scaling
    Default
    Text Magnifier
    Readable Font
    Dyslexia Friendly
    Highlight Titles
    Highlight Links
    Font Sizing
    Default
    Line Height
    Default
    Letter Spacing
    Default
    Left Aligned
    Center Aligned
    Right Aligned

    Visually Pleasing Experience

    Dark Contrast
    Light Contrast
    Monochrome
    High Contrast
    High Saturation
    Low Saturation
    Adjust Text Colors
    Adjust Title Colors
    Adjust Background Colors

    Easy Orientation

    Mute Sounds
    Hide Images
    Virtual Keyboard
    Reading Guide
    Stop Animations
    Reading Mask
    Highlight Hover
    Highlight Focus
    Big Dark Cursor
    Big Light Cursor
    Navigation Keys

    Asbarez.com Accessibility Statement

    Accessibility Statement

    • www.asbarez.com
    • June 28, 2022

    Compliance status

    We firmly believe that the internet should be available and accessible to anyone, and are committed to providing a website that is accessible to the widest possible audience, regardless of circumstance and ability.

    To fulfill this, we aim to adhere as strictly as possible to the World Wide Web Consortium’s (W3C) Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.1 (WCAG 2.1) at the AA level. These guidelines explain how to make web content accessible to people with a wide array of disabilities. Complying with those guidelines helps us ensure that the website is accessible to all people: blind people, people with motor impairments, visual impairment, cognitive disabilities, and more.

    This website utilizes various technologies that are meant to make it as accessible as possible at all times. We utilize an accessibility interface that allows persons with specific disabilities to adjust the website’s UI (user interface) and design it to their personal needs.

    Additionally, the website utilizes an AI-based application that runs in the background and optimizes its accessibility level constantly. This application remediates the website’s HTML, adapts Its functionality and behavior for screen-readers used by the blind users, and for keyboard functions used by individuals with motor impairments.

    If you’ve found a malfunction or have ideas for improvement, we’ll be happy to hear from you. You can reach out to the website’s operators by using the following email

    Screen-reader and keyboard navigation

    Our website implements the ARIA attributes (Accessible Rich Internet Applications) technique, alongside various different behavioral changes, to ensure blind users visiting with screen-readers are able to read, comprehend, and enjoy the website’s functions. As soon as a user with a screen-reader enters your site, they immediately receive a prompt to enter the Screen-Reader Profile so they can browse and operate your site effectively. Here’s how our website covers some of the most important screen-reader requirements, alongside console screenshots of code examples:

    1. Screen-reader optimization: we run a background process that learns the website’s components from top to bottom, to ensure ongoing compliance even when updating the website. In this process, we provide screen-readers with meaningful data using the ARIA set of attributes. For example, we provide accurate form labels; descriptions for actionable icons (social media icons, search icons, cart icons, etc.); validation guidance for form inputs; element roles such as buttons, menus, modal dialogues (popups), and others. Additionally, the background process scans all of the website’s images and provides an accurate and meaningful image-object-recognition-based description as an ALT (alternate text) tag for images that are not described. It will also extract texts that are embedded within the image, using an OCR (optical character recognition) technology. To turn on screen-reader adjustments at any time, users need only to press the Alt+1 keyboard combination. Screen-reader users also get automatic announcements to turn the Screen-reader mode on as soon as they enter the website.

      These adjustments are compatible with all popular screen readers, including JAWS and NVDA.

    2. Keyboard navigation optimization: The background process also adjusts the website’s HTML, and adds various behaviors using JavaScript code to make the website operable by the keyboard. This includes the ability to navigate the website using the Tab and Shift+Tab keys, operate dropdowns with the arrow keys, close them with Esc, trigger buttons and links using the Enter key, navigate between radio and checkbox elements using the arrow keys, and fill them in with the Spacebar or Enter key.Additionally, keyboard users will find quick-navigation and content-skip menus, available at any time by clicking Alt+1, or as the first elements of the site while navigating with the keyboard. The background process also handles triggered popups by moving the keyboard focus towards them as soon as they appear, and not allow the focus drift outside of it.

      Users can also use shortcuts such as “M” (menus), “H” (headings), “F” (forms), “B” (buttons), and “G” (graphics) to jump to specific elements.

    Disability profiles supported in our website

    • Epilepsy Safe Mode: this profile enables people with epilepsy to use the website safely by eliminating the risk of seizures that result from flashing or blinking animations and risky color combinations.
    • Visually Impaired Mode: this mode adjusts the website for the convenience of users with visual impairments such as Degrading Eyesight, Tunnel Vision, Cataract, Glaucoma, and others.
    • Cognitive Disability Mode: this mode provides different assistive options to help users with cognitive impairments such as Dyslexia, Autism, CVA, and others, to focus on the essential elements of the website more easily.
    • ADHD Friendly Mode: this mode helps users with ADHD and Neurodevelopmental disorders to read, browse, and focus on the main website elements more easily while significantly reducing distractions.
    • Blindness Mode: this mode configures the website to be compatible with screen-readers such as JAWS, NVDA, VoiceOver, and TalkBack. A screen-reader is software for blind users that is installed on a computer and smartphone, and websites must be compatible with it.
    • Keyboard Navigation Profile (Motor-Impaired): this profile enables motor-impaired persons to operate the website using the keyboard Tab, Shift+Tab, and the Enter keys. Users can also use shortcuts such as “M” (menus), “H” (headings), “F” (forms), “B” (buttons), and “G” (graphics) to jump to specific elements.

    Additional UI, design, and readability adjustments

    1. Font adjustments – users, can increase and decrease its size, change its family (type), adjust the spacing, alignment, line height, and more.
    2. Color adjustments – users can select various color contrast profiles such as light, dark, inverted, and monochrome. Additionally, users can swap color schemes of titles, texts, and backgrounds, with over 7 different coloring options.
    3. Animations – epileptic users can stop all running animations with the click of a button. Animations controlled by the interface include videos, GIFs, and CSS flashing transitions.
    4. Content highlighting – users can choose to emphasize important elements such as links and titles. They can also choose to highlight focused or hovered elements only.
    5. Audio muting – users with hearing devices may experience headaches or other issues due to automatic audio playing. This option lets users mute the entire website instantly.
    6. Cognitive disorders – we utilize a search engine that is linked to Wikipedia and Wiktionary, allowing people with cognitive disorders to decipher meanings of phrases, initials, slang, and others.
    7. Additional functions – we provide users the option to change cursor color and size, use a printing mode, enable a virtual keyboard, and many other functions.

    Browser and assistive technology compatibility

    We aim to support the widest array of browsers and assistive technologies as possible, so our users can choose the best fitting tools for them, with as few limitations as possible. Therefore, we have worked very hard to be able to support all major systems that comprise over 95% of the user market share including Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Apple Safari, Opera and Microsoft Edge, JAWS and NVDA (screen readers), both for Windows and for MAC users.

    Notes, comments, and feedback

    Despite our very best efforts to allow anybody to adjust the website to their needs, there may still be pages or sections that are not fully accessible, are in the process of becoming accessible, or are lacking an adequate technological solution to make them accessible. Still, we are continually improving our accessibility, adding, updating and improving its options and features, and developing and adopting new technologies. All this is meant to reach the optimal level of accessibility, following technological advancements. For any assistance, please reach out to