I understand that there is going to be "Early
Voting", and that this voting is going to be at the City Clerk's Office on
Monday April 6th.
I don't know whether this is legal or a common
practice, but I strongly object to it and firmly believe that it will cast
serious new doubts over the fairness or even the legitimacy of the elections. This is in main due to the fact that members
of the ANC will almost certainly be there, as they have been before (as recently
as a very few days ago), causing controversy with their interjections with
voters. The so-called Armenian National
Committee- a name most undeserving to be used by a group that
is unrepresentative of Armenians and subject to no open examination
at any time by anyone- should not be allowed at the Clerk's office the same way
that they should not be allowed inside a polling station. The City Clerk himself, being a prominent
former employee of the ANC, must be aware that allowing third parties to be
present in such close proximity of what would be a 'voting booth' is bound to
cast a shadow over the whole process and bring the City of Glendale itself into
possible disrepute.
I urge the Mayor, Council Members and all others
concerned to do whatever is necessary in preventing any contact that will taint
the elections and the very name of
Aramazd Stepanian
P.S. In my opinion and for future reference: The practice
of allowing so many people to vote either by absentee ballots, or early and
outside of official polling stations and on other days than the election day, diminishes the importance of the act of
voting. Among other things, it gives the
distinct impression that casting the ballot is something one does at his
or her convenience and need not be regarded as anything more than a chore that
one does when one gets the chance to do it.