The main opposition Armenian National Congress (HAK) said on Tuesday that it has asked the Constitutional Court to annul a decision by electoral authorities allowing new residents of Yerevan to vote in the upcoming mayoral elections.
HAK representatives said the decision made by the Central Election Commission (CEC) is unconstitutional and aimed at facilitating vote rigging. They cited one of the articles of the Electoral Code which stipulates that the heads of local governments in Armenia are to be elected by citizens who have resided in a particular community for at least one year.
Despite the restriction, the CEC allowed district administrations and police departments in Yerevan to include all city residents on the vote registers to be used in the May 31 elections of a new municipal assembly. The 9-member body based the decision on another Criminal Code article that sets no minimum residency requirements for Yerevan voters.
The HAK, which is the only opposition contender of the polls, believes that the clause violates the Armenian constitution and should be declared null and void along with the CEC directive. The opposition alliance appealed to the Constitutional Court after Armenia’s Administrative Court rejected a relevant lawsuit filed by it earlier this month. The Constitutional Court has yet to decide whether to take up the case.
HAK representatives claimed that the new registration rules will allow the governing Republican Party of Armenia (HAK) and its top candidate, incumbent Mayor Gagik Beglarian, to get votes from their supporters and bribed voters living outside the capital. “From now on, they can bring in tens of thousands of people from elsewhere and have them vote for Mr. Beglarian,” Ruben Torosian, an HAK election candidate, told a news conference.
The CEC chairman, Garegin Azarian, brushed aside the claims, arguing that the most recent district elections in Yerevan were held last year under the same rules. “Nobody raised such questions during those elections,” Azarian told RFE/RL.
Despite the restriction, the CEC allowed district administrations and police departments in Yerevan to include all city residents on the vote registers to be used in the May 31 elections of a new municipal assembly. The 9-member body based the decision on another Criminal Code article that sets no minimum residency requirements for Yerevan voters.
The HAK, which is the only opposition contender of the polls, believes that the clause violates the Armenian constitution and should be declared null and void along with the CEC directive. The opposition alliance appealed to the Constitutional Court after Armenia’s Administrative Court rejected a relevant lawsuit filed by it earlier this month. The Constitutional Court has yet to decide whether to take up the case.
HAK representatives claimed that the new registration rules will allow the governing Republican Party of Armenia (HAK) and its top candidate, incumbent Mayor Gagik Beglarian, to get votes from their supporters and bribed voters living outside the capital. “From now on, they can bring in tens of thousands of people from elsewhere and have them vote for Mr. Beglarian,” Ruben Torosian, an HAK election candidate, told a news conference.
The CEC chairman, Garegin Azarian, brushed aside the claims, arguing that the most recent district elections in Yerevan were held last year under the same rules. “Nobody raised such questions during those elections,” Azarian told RFE/RL.