ARFD: High voter turnout in Armenian elections needs special examination

April 5, 2017 By administrator

The Armenian Revolutionary Federation Dashnaktsutyun on Wednesday, April 5 called for a special probe into the unexpectedly high voter turnout in the April 2 parliamentary elections.

Armenian parliamentary elections hada voter turnout of some 61%. Based on results calculated in all the 2009 polling stations, the Republican party leads with 49.12% of votes (771 247 ballots), followed by the Tsarukyan bloc with 27.32% (428 965), YELQ with 7.77% (122 049) and the ARF Dashnaktsutyun with 6.57% (103 173). Voter turnout stood at 60.86% on Sunday, April 2.

The high voter turnout, according to ARF, was a commendable display of civil activity on the one hand, and “an evil phenomenon caused by the use of financial and administrative resources” on the other.

Elections, ARF said, were commendable in terms of free competition and a civilized campaign by participating forces .

Also, the party cited “the crystallization of politics as a reason behind the society’s rejection of defeatist ideas.”

Armenia local elections: vote buying reported in Vanadzor

October 2, 2016 By administrator

The Armenian Revival party and the Europe in Law Association NGO have been alerted to vote buying in Vanadzor.
Observer Arsen Yeranosyan of the Law Association NGO told Tert.am that the vote buying was reported outside polling station 30/13.

“And we are now trying to find out who and where is bribing voters,” he said.

Boris Palyan, Head of the Armenian Revival party campaign office, said that “carousel” was noticed at polling station 30/03 and “bribes were given out in broad daylight” at polling stations 30/15 and 30/13.

“People get into a car, get their money and get out of the car. In School 25 voters are being bribed in broad daylight. The same is taking place in the boarding school,” he said.

ANCA-WR Urges Voter Registration in California

May 24, 2016 By administrator

vote registration As the deadline to register to vote for the California Primary Elections approaches, Elen Asatryan, the Executive Director of the Armenian National Committee of America-Western Region issued a letter encouraging voter registration and participation in the Primary Election on June 7.

Below is the text of that letter, titled “A forced to be reckoned with…” in reference to a Los Angeles Times article that called the Armenian-American constituency “a force to be reckoned with.”

Friends,

That subject line says it all. On Friday the LA Times ran a story detailing how the Armenian American vote, led by the ANCA-WR and Hye Votes COULD be key to the 43rd Assembly District race between our highly qualified Ardy Kassakhian and the CCSA backed Laura Friedman, the same organization founded by the current head of the Magnolia charter schools linked to Turkish cleric Fethullah Gulen and his movement.

While definitely a positive story, especially when numerous seasoned political consultants describe our community as “a force to be reckoned with,” or “playing at a different level,” there was one key word to focus on: “COULD”

In the end, “COULD” doesn’t count. There is only one word that counts: “WILL”.

Our community WILL be the deciding vote in the 43rd Assembly, the 5th LA County Supervisors, and the 25th State Senate districts by electing Ardy Kassakhian, Ara Najarian and Anthony Portantino respectively, if we take a stand.

We WILL be a force to be reckoned with and we WILL continue to play at a different level because we have people like you, but only if you show up to the front lines.

Election Day is two weeks away, we need you now.

If you’re not registered to vote, register by 11:59pm on Monday, May 23rd. If you are registered, MAKE SURE TO VOTE by either sending in your vote-by-mail ballot today or VOTE ON TUESDAY, JUNE 7th.

Our strength is in our UNITY and making our COLLECTIVE VOICE heard. Spread the word by making sure all your friends and family are registered and ready to vote. We cannot let the special interests silence our community.

As our Chair Nora Hovsepian wrote to you on Friday, the special interests are spending over 1 million dollars in negative and dirty campaign tactics to try to buy the 43rd CA Assembly district seat, but when all is said and done – you hold the power of the outcome with your vote.

The time to act is now.

All election details are available at ANCAWR.org/2016elections

Let’s Rock the HyeVote!

In Common Cause,

Elen Asatryan

Executive Director

P.S- Our staff and volunteers are working around the clock to register community members to vote and get the vote out. Please also take some time to stop by the campaign office to help out, Monday to Friday from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m., Saturday and Sunday noon to 6 p.m. We can use all the helping hands we can get.