The RPA response to alerts about double voting and election bribes
Hrant Bagratyan, a candidate for president, stated during a conversation with journalists after voting today that his campaign headquarters had recorded many cases of election fraud. In particular, according to the candidate for president, they had information that people from Stepanavan and
Gyumri were brought to the capital to vote according to the additional list, to double vote. The candidate also said that election bribes had been handed out for voting for the ruling party’s candidate, and he had known about that on the campaign trail when he was in the regions too. Eduard Sharmazanov, the press secretary of the RPA, said about this during a conversation with www.aravot.am: “I consider all these statements, in which one talks about – and not puts forward facts – about election fraud as ridiculous gossip. Moreover, yesterday Serzh Sargsyan’s campaign headquarters let candidates Hrant Bagratyan’s and Raffi Hovhannisyan’s representatives have its seat of poll-watcher between two members of the commission. If they don’t trust our poll-watchers and commission, they should go, sit and supervise. Talk is not sufficient; they should put forward facts. It doesn’t befit a former Prime Minister and a candidate for president to make such statements without facts.” Sharmazanov notes that the police and the prosecutor’s office respond very quickly; every journalist has the right to be in a polling station 24/7 and photograph. “Election fraud is not a game. Therefore, instead of gossiping, Messrs. Bagratyan and Hovhannisyan had better use the goodwill the campaign headquarters of Serzh Sargsyan, a candidate for president, has shown, had better use the present we have given to them and supervise the process,” Eduard Sharmazanov said, asserting that the RPA headquarters would respond only in case of proved fraud. According to him, there has been no serious case of election fraud, which can have an impact on the election, so far.
Nelly GRIGORYAN
