From now on, only those citizens of Armenia who permanently resided in Armenia 48 days before regular elections, or 28 days before the snap elections, will be able to vote in the parliamentary elections and referendums of Armenia. That is, as of the specified date—48 or 28 days before the election day—they have been in Armenia for more than half a year—183 out of the previous 365 days. Alkhas Ghazaryan, an MP of the ruling Civil Contract faction, on Wednesday announced this during the debates on the package of bills on making amendments to the electoral code and related laws at the meeting of the Standing Committee on State and Legal Affairs of the National Assembly of Armenia.

The aforesaid legislative package was tabled by Civil Contract faction lawmakers Alkhas Ghazaryan, Arusyak Manavazyan, Hasmik Hakobyan, and Arusyak Julhakyan.

“The right to vote cannot be merely a formality, conditioned solely by the fact of citizenship; it must be based on a person’s real social connection with the state. A citizen can participate in making decisions that are most important for the state only if the center of his vital interests is in the given country,” Alkhas Ghazaryan explained her position on the matter.

After some discussions, the aforementioned parliamentary standing committee approved this law initiative.