61 violations reported during municipal elections in Armenia

Daniel Ioannisyan, a representative of the Independent Observer monitoring mission, reported 61 violations across 41 polling stations during Sunday's snap municipal elections in Gyumri and Parakar.

At a press conference on Monday, he said the violations included organized voter transportation (1 case in Parakar), voter guidance (5 cases in Gyumri, 2 in Parakar), altercations (2 cases in Gyumri, 2 in Parakar), open voting (3 cases in Gyumri, 2 in Parakar), observer rights violations (3 cases) and issues with ballot stamps.

Regarding ballot counting, Ioannisyan highlighted concerns at the polling station 31/77, where envelopes contained ballots missing the required precinct stamps. At 31/70, the number of stamps exceeded the documented count due to printing issues. He highlighted concerns about the quality and reliability of the stamp production.

Additionally, faulty envelopes caused some open voting incidents, as they were glued shut from the inside due to poor manufacturing quality.