Armenian NA holding hearing of amendments to Armenia`s Election Code 

ArmInfo. On October 8, parliamentary hearings are being held in the National Assembly of  Armenia dedicated to the scandalous amendments to the Electoral Code  of the Republic of Armenia.

On October 24, the National Assembly of Armenia approved in the first  reading the amendments to the Electoral Code proposed by the Ministry  of Justice, which will allow holding new elections in the event of a  state of emergency or martial law. 65 deputies voted "for" and 28  deputies voted "against".

Today, during the hearings, Deputy Minister of Justice of the  Republic of Armenia Armenuhi Harutyunyan noted that after the first  reading, by the decision of the Chairman of the NA Committee on State  and Legal Affairs Vladimir Vardanyan, a working group was formed that  is working to bring this provision into line with the Constitution,  which prohibits holding elections during a state of emergency or  martial law. After numerous discussions, a preliminary version was  adopted, which will be submitted to the government of the country. In  particular, the new regulation stipulates that elections are  suspended from the moment the decision to introduce a state of  emergency or martial law comes into force.

In addition, if the elections are scheduled for the day before 20:00  before the declaration of a state of emergency and martial law, the  election process is suspended. As Harutyunyan noted, if the  provisions are introduced after 20:00, that is, before the election  results are summarized and the protocols are drawn up, the voting  results will continue at those polling stations where vote counting  is possible, after which the process is also suspended. The purpose  of this provision is to ensure that the election results are not  reset. If necessary, the Central Electoral Commission can announce a  new vote if necessary.

In general, as the Deputy Minister noted, the amendments to the  Electoral Code of Armenia are aimed at further developing the  country's democratic institutions. One of the important components of  the updated EC will be the expansion of state guarantees for persons  with mobility issues in the exercise of their constitutional rights.  For these purposes, it is planned to develop a set of measures aimed  at solving this problem.

The draft requires that parties and blocs participating in the  elections provide the Anti-Corruption Commission with data on the  movement of funds in their bank accounts every three working days -  from the moment of registration of the lists until the third day  after the elections. After summarizing the information, the  commission is obliged to publish the report on its website.

Meanwhile, the opposition has already expressed its concerns that the  authorities will have the opportunity to reproduce. In particular, if  the election results are predictable, the authorities may provoke an  emergency situation in order to interrupt the voting process.  Secretary of the opposition faction "Armenia" Artsvik Minasyan  reported that the faction's deputies submitted their proposals and  comments to the commission on state and legal issues today.

The new Electoral Code of Armenia was adopted in 2021. Among its key  changes is the abandonment of the rating system of elections. Until  2025, the Corruption Prevention Commission will oversee the financial  reporting of parties, and the Central Electoral Commission will  oversee the budgets of election campaigns.  However, after 2025, this  system is planned to be revised, since the Corruption Prevention  Commission is accountable to the government, which raises doubts  about its independence.