Armenian candidate alleges irregularities in electronic devices during parliamentary elections

An opposition parliamentary candidate has alleged irregularities involving electronic voter identification systems used during Armenia’s June 7 parliamentary elections, citing reports from polling stations that she says warrant closer scrutiny of the devices’ performance.

Gohar Meloyan, a constitutional lawyer and candidate from the Strong Armenia alliance, on Saturday shared a video from a polling station and said her team received numerous reports of potential violations throughout election day.

According to Meloyan, complaints from several polling stations indicated that serial numbers printed on receipts generated by electronic identification devices did not correspond to the numbers recorded in voter registers.

She also said observers reported that some voter identification devices failed to display the indicator lights that are designed to activate during the verification process. Under election procedures, the devices are expected to show green, yellow or red lights depending on the outcome of voter identification.

Meloyan questioned whether the reported issues could have resulted from interference with the operation of the devices.

“Were the devices tampered with?” she wrote.