This report has just been released. It does not contain any assessment on conduct or results of the election (leaving it perhaps for the final report) but rather focuses on recording events and reported irregularities during the monitored period (20 February - 3 March). However, it does state that "the final assessment of the election depends, in part, on the conduct of the remaining stages of the election process, including the tabulation and announcement of final results and the handling of possible post-election day complaints or appeals."
OSCE/ODIHR election observation mission report covering the period 20 February - 3 March 2008
On 20 February, the International Election Observation Mission (IEOM), comprising the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly (OSCE PA), the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) and the European Parliament (EP), issued a joint Statement of Preliminary Findings and Conclusions. This statement reported that the 19 February presidential election “was administered mostly in line with OSCE and Council of Europe commitments and standards. The high-State authorities made genuine efforts to address shortcomings noted in previous elections, including the legal framework, and repeatedly stated their intention to conduct democratic elections. However, further improvements and commensurate political will are required to address remaining challenges such as: the absence of a clear separation between State and party functions, the lack of public confidence in the electoral process and ensuring equal treatment of election contestants. The conduct of the count did not contribute to reducing an existing suspicion amongst election stakeholders.”
The statement signalled that the final assessment of the election depends, in part, on the conduct of the remaining stages of the election process, including the tabulation and announcement of final results and the handling of possible post-election day complaints or appeals. From 20 February, the OSCE/ODIHR Election Observation Mission (EOM) has continued its observation of the post-election process.
This interim report should be read in conjunction with pre-election interim reports, as well as the statement of preliminary findings and conclusions. The OSCE/ODIHR will issue a comprehensive final report, including recommendations, approximately two months after full completion of the election process.
I. SUMMARY
• On 20 February, the Central Election Commission (CEC) announced preliminary results indicating that Prime Minister Serzh Sargsyan had won the election. The second placed candidate, Levon Ter-Petrossian, made accusations of widespread election falsification and claimed that he had won the election.
• Demonstrations against the conduct of the election were held repeatedly and remained peaceful until 1 March when police dispersed the demonstrators. Subsequent clashes between demonstrators and the police and military turned violent resulting in fatalities and injuries, and President Kocharian declared a state of emergency. On 26 February, Serzh Sargsyan offered to collaborate with the other presidential candidates.
• Results from 135 Precinct Election Commissions (PECs) were recounted by Territorial Election Commissions (TECs). OSCE/ODIHR observers noted shortcomings in the recount process, including discrepancies and mistakes, some of which raise questions over the impartiality of the PECs and TECs concerned.
• On 24 February, the CEC declared that Mr. Sargsyan had won the election with 52.8 per cent of the vote; Mr. Ter-Petrossian received 21.5 per cent and Arthur Baghdasaryan 16.7 per cent. Two of the eight CEC members did not sign the official protocol of results.
• Results data published for all PECs on the CEC website revealed some anomalies at specific PECs, including implausibly high voter turnout; results for Mr. Sargsyan in excess of 99 per cent of the vote; and a very high incidence of invalid ballots in some PECs, especially in Yerevan.
• The OSCE/ODIHR EOM received information that complaints had not been accepted by PECs on election day. In the post election period, the CEC received several complaints; its handling of these did not provide complainants with an effective remedy and raises concern about its commitment to ensure the protection of citizens’ electoral rights.
• During the post-election period, the main broadcast media, including public television and radio, provided extensive coverage of the views of the authorities but rarely aired the views of those who raised concerns regarding the conduct of the 19 February poll.
Full report is available here
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Here is RFE/RL's take on this report:
OSCE Reports Flawed Recounts, ‘Implausible’ Vote Results In Armenia
Raising more questions about the freedom and fairness of Armenia’s presidential election, Western election observers said on Friday that vote recounts in polling stations across the country were not conducted properly and exposed errors in official vote results.
In their first post-election interim report, the observers representing the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe also noted “anomalies” in the results from other electoral precincts. They said the reported problems will affect the OSCE mission’s final assessment of the Armenian authorities’ conduct of the February 19 vote. It is due to be made public by May.
In their preliminary assessment made public on February 20, the more than 300 monitors concluded that the election was administered “mostly in accordance” with democratic standards. But they also reported serious irregularities during the counting of ballots in 16 percent of the polling stations visited by them on election day.
More such irregularities were exposed during recounts subsequently conducted in 153 of Armenia’s 1,922 precincts. OSCE observers were present at many of those recounts.
“The majority of recounts observed showed discrepancies and mistakes in the original count, some of which were significant and raise questions over the political impartiality of PECs (precinct election commissions) and TECs (district election commissions),” read their report. It also cited two Yerevan precincts where the recounts were disrupted by government loyalists.
One of those precincts was stormed by a group of men who “forced TEC members and other authorized persons including candidate proxies, journalists, and an OSCE/ODIHR observer to leave the TEC premises, while police officers passively stood by.” In the other Yerevan precinct, the report said, an unknown man stole an envelope containing valid ballots marked in favor of opposition candidate Levon Ter-Petrosian.
The observers also pointed to “implausibly high turnout” reported by election commissions in Yerevan and other parts of the country. In virtually all of those cases Prime Minister Serzh Sarkisian got more than 90 percent of the vote, compared with his national total of 52.8 percent reported by the Central Election Commission (CEC).
The OSCE report singled out four villages in the Goris area in southeastern Armenia where Sarkisian got over 99 per cent of the vote, with a turnout of 97 to 99.5 per cent. “Even taking into account that Serzh Sarkisian has strong familial links to the Goris area results from the four PECs are striking,” it said.
The report also criticized the CEC for effectively ignoring complaints received from Ter-Petrosian and other candidates after polling day. “In the post election period, the CEC received several complaints; its handling of these did not provide complainants with an effective remedy and raises concern about its commitment to ensure the protection of citizens’ electoral rights,” it said.
The New York Times agrees that this interim report by OSCE has "more negative assessment of the Feb. 19 vote and its recount than it initially gave":
Armenia: Vote Observers More Critical
By SABRINA TAVERNISE
Published: March 8, 2008
An election observation team from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe issued a second report on the presidential election that handed an overwhelming victory to the prime minister, delivering a more negative assessment of the Feb. 19 vote and its recount than it initially gave. The report documented numerous cases of violence, including a case in which a domestic observer lost consciousness, and “implausibly high voter turnout” at a number of polling stations. It assessed the vote count at 17 percent of the stations as “bad or very bad” and reported “significant procedural errors,” including placing ballots on the wrong candidate’s pile.
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