The CEC did not disqualify any of the political groups that submitted their lists of election candidates and other registration documents to it last week.
They will be vying for at least 101 seats in Armenia’s new parliament that will be elected on June 20 under the system of proportional representation.
The parties will need to win at least 5 percent of the vote in order to be represented in the National Assembly. The vote threshold for blocs is set at 7 percent.
Only three groups -- the ruling My Step bloc and the opposition Prosperous Armenia (BHK) and Bright Armenia (LHK) parties -- cleared these thresholds in the last general elections held in December 2018.
Civil Contract is running for the parliament on its own this time around. The LHK and the BHK have also not teamed up with other parties.
Among other major elections contenders are the political forces led by Armenia’s three former presidents: Levon Ter-Petrosian, Robert Kocharian and Serzh Sarkisian.
The CEC chairman, Tigran Mukuchian, admitted that the record-high number of contenders will require additional expenditures on the conduct of the snap elections. The commission will have to print millions of more ballots and ship them to 2,000 or so polling stations across the country, he said.
“Our Electoral Code stipulates that a separate ballot must be printed for every party or bloc,” Mukuchian told reporters. “This means that in every polling station a voter will get 26 ballots, pick the ballot carrying the name of a party or bloc preferred by them … and drop the other ballots into a bin that will be placed there.”
Mukuchian and the chief of the Armenian government’s staff, Arsen Torosian, met with Yerevan-based foreign diplomats on May 18 to discuss preparations for the elections aimed at ending a serious political crisis in the country. Torosian assured them that the government will do its best to ensure that the vote is free and fair.