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ARMENIA DAILY DIGEST
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From: Dow Kimbrell (dkimbrell@sorosny.org)
Date: Wed Sep 01 2004 - 13:42:46 EDT
ARMENIAN BY-ELECTION ANNULLED
The outcome of a 29 August by-election in a district in central Armenia
has been annulled after the two front-runners both alleged fraud,
RFE/RL's Armenian Service reported on 31 August. Local election
commission Chairman Grigor Arshakian said too many discrepancies have
been discovered in figures received from the 31 polling stations. A
repeat ballot will be held within three weeks. Initial returns showed
Artak Sargsian of parliament speaker Artur Baghdasarian's Orinats Yerkir
party leading by a margin of 32 votes ahead of Arayik Hayrapetian, who
represents an organization led by Prosecutor-General Aghvan Hovsepian
(see "RFE/RL Newsline," 31 August 2004). Both Baghdasarian and Hovsepian
are considered possible candidates to succeed President Robert Kocharian
when his second presidential term expires in 2008. Hayrapetian's
campaign manager claimed that 2,000 ballots cast for Hayrapetian were
declared invalid, and that "the godfathers of a certain party" had
intervened to prevent a Hayrapetian victory. LF
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