Thousands of voters' votes excluded from final election results in Armenia

The Central Election Commission of Armenia refused to hold re-votes at three polling stations where the June 7 election results were annulled. Observers say this decision casts a shadow on the fairness of the process.

As reported by the Caucasian Knot, on June 14, the Central Election Commission of Armenia announced the final results after a vote recount. According to them, Prosperous Armenia received 3.893% of the vote, failing to clear the parliamentary threshold. Three parties entered parliament: Civil Contract with 49.74% of the vote, Strong Armenia with 23.27%, and Armenia with 9.92%. The Civil Contract party received 64 seats in parliament, Strong Armenia with 29 seats, and Armenia with 12 seats. Six opposition parties declared the elections illegitimate and blamed Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan for further escalating the situation.

At polling stations #10/51, #35/65, and #12/13, where the June 7 voting results were annulled due to violations, a total of more than 3,000 voters cast ballots: 1,287, 1,315, and 809 people, respectively, the Central Election Commission (CEC) press service reported after the final election results were tabulated.

"By decision of the CEC, there will be no repeat voting at these stations, however, the materials on these polling stations have been sent to the prosecutor's office," the commission announced.

Vahagn Hovakimyan, Head of the Central Election Commission of Armenia, stated on June 15 that "the commission is not obligated to automatically schedule a repeat vote after invalidating the results at individual polling stations."

"A repeat vote may take place under unequal conditions, since its participants already know the preliminary election results, which creates the risk of tactical voting and may impact the free expression of the will of citizens," he explained.

Hovakimyan also cited the position of the Venice Commission and the Constitutional Court of Armenia, according to which, when eliminating the consequences of violations, the rights of voters who have already legally expressed their will must be protected. "If a repeat vote does not guarantee a free, equal, and fair result, it should not be scheduled, as it may further distort the will of the voters," the Chairman of the Central Election Commission believes.

Observers found the CEC's decision "problematic"

The Armenian Akanates ("Eyewitness") observation mission called the CEC's assessment that the annulment of the votes at these three polling stations does not affect the final election results "highly questionable." The mission questioned the commission's decision not to schedule a repeat vote, finding it "problematic" from the perspective of national electoral legislation, international legal standards, and public trust.

“While the CEC’s assertion that knowledge of preliminary results during a repeat vote could lead to ‘tactical voting’ is based on the Venice Commission report, in this case this argument cannot prevail over the need to establish a real picture of how a political force overcame the electoral threshold,” the mission’s statement reads.

Akanates emphasizes that “it is impossible to rule out the influence of more than 3,000 votes in problematic precincts on the distribution of mandates without a substantiated and public mathematical calculation.”

“The lack of such a calculation undermines the transparency of the process. Depriving these voters of their active voting rights based on assumptions of ‘tactical voting’ directly violates the legal principle of proportionality, since the annulment of votes cannot be considered a proportionate and necessary measure to correct an error in election administration. Public trust in elections is the cornerstone of the legitimacy of any democratic process. The Central Election Commission's decision creates a dangerous precedent that could cast a shadow on the public perception of the fairness of the electoral process," the mission representatives emphasized. Opposition political forces claimed violations during the vote count and expressed confidence that the annulment of voting at three polling stations affected the final election results. "Results recorded under such conditions cannot serve as the basis for the formation of a legitimate government that enjoys the trust of the majority of the people," read a statement from six opposition parties published on the Prosperous Armenia party's social media page. The opposition statement was also supported by the leader of the Wings of Unity party and former Armenian Ombudsman Arman Tatoyan. He called the parliamentary election results "illegal." "The official results do not reflect the real will of the citizens, and the parliament formed based on them will experience a serious lack of trust and legitimacy," he asserted. Tatoyan.

Political scientists point to a dangerous precedent and the growth of authoritarian tendencies

The Central Election Commission's decision not to hold re-elections at three polling stations has a direct impact on the Prosperous Armenia party's failure to enter parliament and on the number of mandates for the Civil Contract party, noted Tigran Grigoryan, head of the Yerevan Regional Center for Democracy and Security. He emphasized that as a result of this decision, Civil Contract received three additional mandates, which provided the ruling party with a three-fifths majority in the National Assembly.

"We spent a whole week 'fighting' to prevent the Russians from delegitimizing the election results, and then we did it ourselves – in full view and quite openly, amid suddenly intensified toasts about dismantling criminal-oligarchic forces, in clear violation of the law. Delegitimizing election results doesn't happen overnight and doesn't seem abstract. Of course, there will be explanations now that this obvious "lawlessness" is being carried out in the name of sovereignty and democracy, but all of this is no longer of any significance. This is a very dangerous precedent, which also shows that the ruling party has no more "red lines," Grigoryan told the "Caucasian Knot."

The June 7 parliamentary elections changed little in Armenia's political system, as the familiar pattern of confrontation between "new" and "old" forces has re-emerged in parliament, according to political scientist Manvel Sargsyan.

“Some politicians view the election results as a step toward strengthening sovereignty and democracy, associating this with the weakening of Russian influence. However, moving away from Russian influence alone does not guarantee the country's democratic development. A true path to European values ​​presupposes respect for pluralism, public dialogue, collective decision-making, and the protection of human rights. However, the political situation after the elections does not indicate democratization, but rather the growth of authoritarian tendencies,” Sargsyan stated.