The 9 December early parliamentary elections were held with respect for fundamental freedoms and enjoyed broad public trust that needs to be preserved through further electoral reforms, says the statement on preliminary findings and conclusions published by the international observation mission.
Open political debate, including in the media, contributed to a vibrant campaign, although cases of inflammatory rhetoric online were of concern. The general absence of electoral malfeasance, including of vote- buying and pressure on voters, allowed for genuine competition. The integrity of campaign finance was undermined by a lack of regulation, accountability and transparency. Despite the shortened timeframe, the elections were well administered. Election day proceeded calmly and peacefully with all stages assessed positively by almost all IEOM observers, indicating general adherence to the procedures.
The elections were held following anti-government protests in April 2018, which resulted in the resignation of Serzh Sargsyan as the prime minister and a change of power, with a new government formed in May by Nikol Pashinyan. Draft amendments to significantly change the electoral system and transform it to a fully proportional one were submitted by the new government but ultimately did not receive a required three-fifths’ majority in parliament three days before the elections were called.
The elections are comprehensively regulated by the Constitution and the 2016 Electoral Code. The latest amendments from May 2018 expanded the list of those prohibited from campaigning, lifted restrictions for media observers and increased sanctions and penalties for electoral offenses, in line with previous ODIHR and Council of Europe’s Venice Commission recommendations. Criminal liability was introduced for forcing individuals to campaign and for the facilitation of vote-buying. Remaining ODIHR and Venice Commission recommendations should be addressed, including those related to campaign finance regulations, limitations on legal standing for submitting electoral complaints, citizenship requirements for candidates and electoral threshold for alliances to enter parliament.
The Central Election Commission (CEC) conducted its work professionally and transparently and met all legal deadlines, despite the shortened timeframe. The CEC and the Territorial Election Commissions (TECs) enjoyed confidence among electoral stakeholders in the run up to the elections and held open sessions. The CEC conducted a comprehensive voter education campaign to encourage voting, explain voting procedures and warn against vote-buying. The Precinct Election Commissions (PECs) were formed and their members trained within deadlines. The trainings were generally assessed positively.
Final voter lists included a total of 2,573,779 voters, including a high number of citizens residing abroad. Most IEOM interlocutors expressed overall confidence in the accuracy of voter lists. The Passport and Visa Department of the Police undertook continuous efforts to update voter data. Those declared incapacitated by a court are not entitled to vote, despite international standards on removing all unreasonable restrictions on political rights of persons with disabilities.
Voters were identified on election day through the use of Voter Authentication Devices (VADs) which contain an electronic copy of the voter lists. Voter IDs were scanned through VADs to control whether voters were registered at the polling station and to prevent multiple voting. As an important measure to address instances of impersonation, and despite data privacy concerns, the CEC has an obligation to scan and publish online the voter lists containing personal data and signatures of voters who voted.
In an inclusive process, the CEC registered candidate lists of all nine political parties and two party alliances that applied. The law provides four seats for each of the largest national minorities, and three parties and one alliance nominated minority candidates for these elections. Existing restrictions on persons with more than one citizenship to stand for elections are at odds with OSCE commitments and the case law of the European Court of Human Rights.
Contestants were able to conduct their campaigns freely; fundamental freedoms of association, assembly, expression and movement were fully respected during the campaign. The official campaign period was very short, but campaigning started earlier, which is not prohibited by law. Disinformation, as well as inflammatory exchanges between some contestants, on social networks, were noted during
the campaign. To prevent misuse of administrative resources and pressure on public employees, authorities raised awareness about relevant prohibitions among local officials, school principals, health workers and others. Many IEOM interlocutors noted the political will expressed by authorities, electoral contestants and voters themselves to discourage the selling and buying of votes. Positively, electoral stakeholders did not report any systematic efforts of vote-buying and other electoral malfeasance. Several IEOM interlocutors alleged, however, that short-term contracting of a number of campaign workers and citizen observers was done, mainly by one contestant, possibly for the purpose of buying their votes.
All candidate lists met the 25 per cent gender quota requirement and women accounted for 32 per cent of the total of 1,444 candidates. This quota, however, does not ensure the same proportion of representation of women in the parliament, notably as half of the seats are distributed according to preferential votes. Parties rarely featured women candidates in their campaign – women only occasionally campaigned on their own and rarely appeared as speakers in rallies observed. Some women candidates were a target of disparaging rhetoric because of their gender.
Campaign funds may include contributions from voters, candidates and political parties, with limits set for both contributions and expenses. Reporting requirements for contributions received and expenses made before the start of the official campaign are ambiguous. In addition, some candidates confirmed to the ODIHR EOM that they were directly financing their campaigns, which bypasses official party campaign funds in contravention of the law. Contrary to previous ODIHR and Venice Commission recommendations, organizational expenses such as for office space, communication, transportation and staff, are not considered as election related and may therefore remain unreported, undermining the transparency of campaign finance.
The media environment is diverse and the freedom of expression, guaranteed by the Constitution, was respected. Television is the primary source of political information, and the use of online media and social networks is significant. The ODIHR EOM media monitoring showed that the broadcasters made a visible effort to cover all electoral contestants, contributing to the diversity of information available for voters to make an informed choice. Many private outlets appear to be strongly associated with political parties, with some demonstrating clear preference. The public television provided a reasonably balanced coverage. Positively, a number of media, including the public television, organized genuine debates, bringing together candidates from all the contestants.
While no concerns about access to the complaint and appeal system were raised, only a limited number of complaints were filed with the election administration and the courts before election day. Contrary to previous ODIHR and Venice Commission recommendations and international good practice, the legal standing to file complaints with regards to electoral process is largely limited to party proxies and commission members. The deadlines for submission of complaints are generally reasonable.
The law provides for observation in polling stations by international and citizens observers, media, as well as proxies of contestants. The CEC registered a total of 17,813 citizen observers from 22 organizations. Though there was a general effort by established and experienced civil society organizations to observe these elections, a number of IEOM interlocutors raised concerns about direct, including contractual, connections of some accredited citizen observers to political parties, which could compromise their impartiality. The relatively low number of citizen observers in polling stations, as compared to those accredited, indicated lack of genuine interest or intention by some to observe election-day proceedings.
Election day proceeded calmly, peacefully, free of pressure on or intimidation of voters, and was assessed positively by almost all IEOM observers. The opening of polling stations was assessed positively in all IEOM observations and polls generally opened on time. Voting was assessed positively in 99 per cent of observations reflecting the adherence of the PECs to procedures. The vote count was assessed positively in all but two polling stations observed, indicating that the counting process was conducted without significant procedural violations. Tabulation procedures were assessed positively in almost all TECs observed, despite a few organizational shortcomings.
