High court questions parties as Armenia election challenge hearings continue

The Constitutional Court on Monday continued hearings on challenges to the results of Armenia's June 7 parliamentary elections, with Justices questioning political parties over alleged electoral irregularities.

Justice Edgar Shatiryan asked the applicants about claims that military personnel continued voting after the official 8:00 p.m. closing time. Representatives of the Strong Armenia Alliance said voting continued at several polling stations, including precincts 35/65 and 10/51, where large numbers of soldiers remained after polls had officially closed. They argued the incidents pointed to systemic violations. 

CEC Chairman Vahagn Hovakimyan was asked whether the Prosperous Armenia Party would have cleared the 4% electoral threshold if the results of three invalidated polling stations had been included in the final tally. He said the law does not allow such hypothetical calculations because all votes cast at invalidated polling stations are excluded from the final results.

Justice Shatiryan also questioned Armenia Alliance representatives about their recount requests. Artsvik Minasyan said the alliance had sought recounts at around 10 polling stations and had also asked the CEC to correct technical errors in vote tabulation affecting about 30 polling stations and three electoral districts.

Justice Seda Safaryan asked whether statements by Russian President Vladimir Putin and other officials in Moscow could have influenced voters, and why the issue had not been raised in the appeals.

Prosperous Armenia Party representative Aram Orbelyan responded by asking the court not to conflate different political forces and to clarify which party the question was directed at. He said Prosperous Armenia had made no such claim.

Safaryan clarified that the question was addressed to the Armenia and Strong Armenia alliances.

Strong Armenia’s Aram Vardevanyan questioned whether the justice’s inquiry was legal or political in nature. He argued that statements by U.S. and French officials in support of the ruling party should also be considered if foreign influence was being discussed.

The Constitutional Court is holding a single hearing on all motions.

Justice Edgar Shatiryan has been appointed as the rapporteur in the case.

The Constitutional Court has also decided to involve the Civil Contract party in the case as a third party.

The Constitutional Court has further ruled to include the Central Electoral Commission as a respondent, and the Prosecutor General’s Office, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and the Anti-Corruption Committee of Armenia as co-respondents.

Only three political forces entered parliament in the June 7 elections, according to the Central Electoral Commission’s final results.

According to the commission, the Civil Contract party won 49.7% of the vote, securing a majority in the next parliament, while the Strong Armenia bloc came in second with 23.2%. The Armenia Alliance won 9.9%.

The motions to annul the election results, citing alleged fraud, were filed by the Strong Armenia bloc, Wings of Unity party, Democracy, Law and Order party, Prosperous Armenia party, the Rally for the Republic party, the Armenia Alliance, and the New Power Reformist Party.