Members of the Hayastan alliance have presented their assessment of alleged electoral violations to the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR). Member of parliament Lilit Galstyan announced the development on her Facebook page.

“On June 16, Arthur Khachatryan and I met with members of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly ODIHR long-term observation mission — Vladimir Misev, Elizaveta Karagianidou and Smaranda Sandu Lescu — and provided them with the Hayastan alliance’s briefing on post-election developments.

We presented our approaches and assessments regarding the parliamentary election results, pre-election and post-election developments, as well as the widespread and documented electoral violations that took place.

In particular, we addressed the Central Electoral Commission’s final conclusion on the results of the June 7 parliamentary elections, especially the annulment and invalidation of results at polling stations 10/51, 12/13 and 35/65.

We assessed the CEC decision as unlawful and contrary to democratic principles because, while invalidating the results at those polling stations, the commission did not initiate or schedule repeat voting. In doing so, the CEC is violating the electoral rights of thousands of Armenian citizens and diminishing their role in the formation of the National Assembly,” the post states.

Galstyan added that, according to the alliance, the Electoral Code provides mechanisms for resolving such situations, and invalidating polling station results without ordering repeat voting contradicts the options set out in Articles 95 and 101 of the Electoral Code.

“The political implications of this step are more than obvious. As a result of invalidating the results from polling stations 10/51, 12/13 and 35/65, the Prosperous Armenia party lost 222 votes and consequently lost the opportunity to be represented in parliament.

This distorts not only the votes and expressed will of voters but also imposes a completely different political configuration on Armenian society, effectively usurping the votes of both voters and the Prosperous Armenia party.

The Hayastan alliance will challenge the legality and proportionality of the CEC decision, as well as the overall legitimacy of the elections, before the Constitutional Court.

We expect ODIHR and other international election observation missions to provide an impartial assessment and remain committed to the declared principles of democratic institutions,” the post says.

Final election results published on June 14 confirmed the parliamentary composition, while opposition forces continue to challenge aspects of the process.

Final results of the June 7 parliamentary elections were published on June 14. Civil Contract received 726,819 votes, or 49.7456%; Strong Armenia received 340,006 votes, or 23.2710%; and the Hayastan alliance received 144,983 votes, or 9.9231%. The Prosperous Armenia party failed to pass the 4% threshold and will not enter parliament after receiving 58,287 votes, or 3.9893%.

Civil Contract will hold 64 seats, including three allocated to representatives of national minorities. The Strong Armenia party will receive 29 seats, including one reserved for an Assyrian representative, while the Hayastan alliance will hold 12 seats.