As of
20:00 on September 17, during the elections of Yerevan Council of Elders, the
hotline of the Human Rights Defender's office recorded a total of 72 phone
calls related to various aspects of the electoral process. Notably, 23 issues
related to the mandate of the Human Rights Defender were positively resolved with
the support of the Defender.
The
working group of the Human Rights Defender also examined 1,586 publications
posted in the media and social networks during the specified period.
The
problems raised by the working group mainly related to not being notified about
the precinct centers, having registration at a different address, but
exercising the right to vote in the place of their choice on the election day,
the possibility to participate in the elections with another document in case
of not having a passport or having it with expired validity period, as well as
not being able to exercise the right to vote due to the lack of data in the
voter lists in case of residence status, exercise of the right to vote on their
own who are unable to come at the precinct election centers on their own (bed
sick, having problems moving independently), being deprived of the opportunity
to participate in the elections if they have not been registered in Yerevan for
less than 6 months. the voting procedure and the accessibility of the polling
station.
As a
result of the monitoring, apparent problems related to the presence of
outsiders in the precincts, the proper furnishing of voting booths, and the
technical condition of identification devices were also recorded.
The
staff of the Human Rights Defender studied with special attention the
information on the possible obstacles to the work of journalists and observers,
the apparent cases of hindering their activities.
In
addition, complaints were also submitted to the staff of the Human Rights
Defender regarding the accessibility of polling stations. The representatives
of the Defender carried out on-site monitoring in a number of polling stations
in Yerevan, examining their accessibility for people with disabilities.
A
number of problems have been recorded regarding the international standards of
the accessibility:
• In
one of the polling stations there was no ramp at the entrance, although
according to the relevant list of the CEC, the given station is considered
accessible and there should have been a ramp,
• As
a rule, ramps in monitored polling stations were formal in nature. Although the
ramps providing entry and exit to the polling areas were present, the building
conditions were not adapted to the needs of persons with disabilities, in terms
of the lack of an elevator, special blueprints for the visually impaired, and
other adaptations.
•
problems related to lighting were recorded in some election precincts, which is
an obvious obstacle for people with visual impairments in terms of exercising
their right to vote in the evening hours,
• in
some polling stations, the height and distance of the tables for wheelchair
users was not properly ensured, etc.
The
problems recorded during the day will be summarized and letters will be
addressed to the competent state bodies.
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