The parliamentary elections in Armenia on June 7 generally provided voters with a real opportunity to choose and were organized, but the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) noted a number of serious problems, including pressure on the opposition, the use of administrative resources, the polarization of the information field, and the shortcomings of effective mechanisms for appealing the election results, says a report by PACE.

The PACE report pays particular attention to the decision of the Central Electoral Commission (CEC) of Armenia to invalidate the voting results in three polling stations: No. 10/51, 35/65 and 12/13. According to the report, at two polling stations military voters were allowed to cast ballots after the legal close of voting, and at one polling station party ballots for the opposition National Democratic Pole party were absent for most of the day.

PACE considers the most serious problem to be that the CEC, having declared the results of these polling stations invalid, did not schedule a re-vote and did not provide sufficient justification for its decision.

The report notes that, according to separate calculations, if the results of these polling stations had been taken into account, the opposition Prosperous Armenia Party (PAP) could have overcome the 4 percent electoral threshold set for parties and received seats in parliament. But as a result of the elections, the PAP received 3.99 percent of the vote, or 58,287 votes.

Thus, the PAP and its electorate found themselves outside parliament, while the redistribution of mandates allowed the ruling Civil Contract party to receive a three-fifths constitutional majority.

PACE directly notes that the CEC’s decision to invalidate the results of three polling stations was “decisive for entry into parliament of one opposition party.” Moreover, the CEC made only a one-line justification that the cancellation of the results of these polling stations did not affect the overall result and declined to order a rerun.

The report qualifies this argument as completely inadequate, given the seriousness of the consequences of this decision.

Also, the PACE observers o note that the CEC’s decision was challenged by civil society organizations and experts who considered it lacking legal basis, contrary to the principle of proportionality and contrary to the standards of effective legal remedy.

PACE draws attention also to the fact that the judicial investigations into the cancellation of the results of these polling stations and the loss of parliamentary seats by the PAP have not improved the situation. The report speaks of the risk that a significant part of the electorate was left without effective representation, as the result registered by the party was very close to the 4 percent threshold.

In general, PACE notes that the voting day passed peacefully, and in most of the polling stations observed, the processes were properly organized. However, in the delegation’s assessment, the elections cannot be assessed solely on the basis of the voting day.

As the main problems, PACE highlighted the particularly tense geopolitical context and unprecedented external pressure, the ongoing cases of vote buying, the use of administrative resources, shortcomings in judicial protection, as well as the deprivation of the electorate of one of the opposition parties from representation in parliament, with its significant impact on the distribution of parliamentary seats.

In addition, the report speaks of more than 200 criminal proceedings for voter buying and other electoral crimes, which were initiated mainly against opposition members. This, according to PACE observers, has created the impression that the law enforcement practice in Armenia is selective.

PACE points also to pressure on Armenia’s public sector employees to ensure their participation in ruling party events, insufficient oversight over election campaign funding, severe polarization of the media, and the use of manipulative content, including materials created through artificial intelligence.

As one of the recommendations, PACE proposes to amend Armenia’s Electoral Code, which would clearly provide for the holding of a rerun in cases where fundamental parliamentary representation is at risk, establishing clear thresholds and procedures.