72 Calls Received Regarding the Electoral Process: Armenia's Human Rights Defender

On the day of the Yerevan council elections, September 17, as of 20:00, the hotline of the Office of the Human Rights Defender of Armenia received 72 calls related to the electoral process. Out of the reported issues, 23 received a positive resolution with the assistance of the Defender's office.

The working group established by the Defender's order also examined 1586 publications in the media and social networks during this time period. The issues raised by the working group primarily concerned the lack of notifications regarding polling stations, registration at a different address, difficulties exercising voting rights at their preferred voting location on election day, the absence of a passport or the expiration of its validity, the possibility of participating in elections with other documents, the inability to exercise voting rights due to the absence of data in the voter lists for individuals with residency status, and the challenges faced by individuals unable to attend polling stations independently (bedridden patients, those with mobility issues).

The monitoring also revealed cases of unauthorized persons' presence at polling stations, inadequate furnishing of voting booths, and issues related to the technical condition of identification devices.

The Office of the Human Rights Defender paid special attention to information regarding potential obstacles to the work of journalists and observers, as well as instances of hindering their activities. Furthermore, complaints were received regarding the accessibility of polling places.

The Defender's representatives conducted on-site monitoring in 10 polling stations in Yerevan, examining their accessibility for persons with disabilities.

Several issues were documented, including:

• Individuals with visual impairments were only provided with Braille texts, which they could not understand, resulting in them needing to seek help from others.
• At one polling station, the ramp was missing at the entrance, even though, according to the CEC's relevant list, this location was considered accessible and should have had a ramp.
• All monitored polling stations had ramps that were merely formal in nature. Although the entrances and exits to the voting areas had ramps, the building conditions were not adapted to the needs of persons with disabilities; there was a lack of lifts and special markings for individuals with visual impairments.
• Some polling stations reported issues related to lighting, which posed a significant obstacle for individuals with visual impairments exercising their voting rights in the evening hours.
• In some polling stations, the height and distance of the tables for wheelchair users were not adequately ensured.

The problems documented throughout the day will be summarized and reports will be addressed to the relevant state authorities.