According to the official data, after the May 6 parliamentary election, the number of voters in the region of Shirak has increased by 2 261, rising from 228 322 to 230 583. Since emigration from the region of Shirak both by air and by land has reached huge proportions, the population doubts those numbers. www.aravot.am inquired of demographer Lilit Asoyan, a PhD in history, whether those numbers were not exaggerated under the conditions of such emigration, and whether they didn’t aim at ending the election in one round by increasing the number of voters. “I am compelled to talk numbers and first of all talk about the number of voters who have reached the voting age. Last year and this year, citizens born in 1994 and January 1995 have been given the right to vote. According to the data of the National Statistical Service yearbooks, 52 200 infants were born in 1994 alone, and in 1995, 48 900 infants were born in our country from which we should take into account the number of infants born in January who will have been given the right to vote by February 18. If we subtracted the number of those who have died – it is a very small number – and those who have renounced the Armenian citizenship and have gained the citizenship of other countries, have changed the place of their registration from the number of those who were born, the number of voters would be much larger; at least 30-35 thousand, not 25 thousand, should have been given the right to vote. Therefore, 2 261 is not such a large number for the region of Shirak; that number could be larger, if there was a thorough recalculation.
“Besides, the voter registration lists are clarified not according to the Migration Service, but according to the data of the Passport Department of the Police, where there is a record of all, so to say, ‘permanent,’ i.e. registered residents, including voters. And if according to the police data, a citizen is registered at a given address, but he has been living abroad for a long time, no one has a right to remove him from the list. A citizen is removed from the voter registration list, only if he has been removed from the registration database, which may be caused by either changing the address of one’s registration or renouncing the Armenian citizenship or death. Besides, if we take into account that the Constitution of the Republic of Armenia doesn’t forbid maintaining the Armenian citizenship after acquiring the citizenship of another country, we may not even have any decline in population.
“As for differences, internal migration, from rural to urban areas, from towns to the capital, also has an impact on the number of residents, as a result of which there may be differences between the number of ‘permanent’ and ‘current’ residents, which can generally reach 10%-12%. However, it doesn’t mean that the voter registration lists must mention that very number. Let me give an example; I am registered in Gyumri, but I temporarily live in Yerevan, based on what can they remove me from the list?” our interlocutor explained the increase in the number of voters.
Nune AREVSHATYAN
