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Cleaning Up
New transparent ballot boxes, a massive voting-reminder mail drive and a nationwide training program for election officials are some of the final technical preparations Armenia is conducting in preparation for the country's May 12 parliamentary election.
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Media Moment
Media coverage and media availability of the campaigns, political parties and party leaders is a mixed bag in Armenia. Radio seems to be doing the best job of covering the campaigns. The print media, although separated into opposition or pro-government camps, is also getting the messages out. But television news, except for public television, is almost limited to covering only government events.
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Get Out the Vote
Pro-government parties, government opposition parties and non-government organizations are employing various techniques to mobilize voters and build their support base. Rallies, marches, concerts, radio shows and telephone hotlines are there to help and educate the voters, as well as entertain the country's 3.2 million citizens.
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Party Politics
Political parties from all sides of the political spectrum are facing various challenges in the run-up to election day. Opposition parties are struggling to find places for their campaign posters and are encountering various forms of pressure from the government. But even pro-government parties are engaged in bickering, including trivial matters such as which party deserves the support of the country's pop stars.
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Gathering Steam
Government opposition rallies grow in frequency in the final week prior to Armenia's May 12 parliamentary elections. While several parties stage events with song, speeches and flag-waving, the rallies are mostly held away from the center of the country's capital.
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Power Performances
The two main pro-government political parties - Republican Party of Armenia and Prosperous Armenia - host extravagant free concerts with top Russian and Armenian entertainers performing in front of large crowds in central Yerevan. Are the open air shows meant to be gifts to the people of Armenia or attempts at securing more votes in the country's parliamentary elections?
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Election Day
At 8 a.m. on Saturday, May 12, polling stations across Armenia opened their doors for the country to vote-in a new parliament. For the next 12 hours almost 2,000 polling stations gathered ballots from a voting population of about 2.3 million people. These 2007 elections are widely seen as a test for democracy in preparation for Armenia's presidential election next year.
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After the Polls Close
Armenia's parliamentary elections are over. Preliminary results show the three main pro-government parties have swept the elections, gaining the most seats. And while across the city, election posters are sprayed away and scrubbed from walls, several opposition parties begin their condemnations of the elections, claiming election fraud.
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