Strong Armenia Seeks to Void June 7 Election Results, Threatens Constitutional Court Appeal

Armenia’s main opposition challenger in the June 7 parliamentary elections is preparing to formally contest the results, escalating the dispute over the outcome of the vote.

The Strong Armenia Alliance, which finished second behind Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s ruling Civil Contract party according to preliminary results, announced that it will ask Armenia’s Central Election Commission (CEC) on Thursday to annul the election results and conduct a review of the votes received by the governing party.

Narek Karapetyan, the alliance’s lead candidate, said in a video statement posted on social media on Thursday that if the CEC fails to provide what he described as a substantive response, the alliance will take its challenge to Armenia’s Constitutional Court.

The move follows a similar announcement by the Armenia Alliance, led by former President Robert Kocharyan, which has also indicated its intention to appeal to the Constitutional Court.

Karapetyan alleged that electoral violations took place during the vote, claiming that public sector employees and members of the military were pressured to support Pashinyan’s Civil Contract party.

However, both domestic and international election observers stated in their preliminary assessments that while a number of irregularities were recorded, they did not affect the overall outcome of the election.

Karapetyan further argued that ongoing recounts have significantly reduced Civil Contract’s vote totals. The ruling party disputes that claim. Civil Contract Vice Chairman Vahagn Aleksanyan said on Wednesday that recounts and technical corrections had in fact increased the party’s share of the vote from 49.8% to 49.9%.

“The trend is clear: the recount process is increasing Civil Contract’s votes and percentage share,” Aleksanyan said.

The Central Election Commission is expected to complete the recount process on Thursday, while the final official election results are scheduled to be published on Sunday.

—

Support independent reporting from the region by subscribing to The Armenian Report. Our team is funded solely by readers like you.