Armenia's CEC acknowledges election violations, opposition says

Armenia's Central Electoral Commission (CEC) acknowledged before the Constitutional Court that electoral irregularities occurred during the country's parliamentary elections but maintained that they were not substantial enough to have influenced the final outcome, opposition lawyer Aram Vardevanyan said on Monday.

Speaking to reporters outside the Constitutional Court, Vardevanyan, a member of the Strong Armenia alliance, said the CEC had effectively conceded the existence of election-related violations during hearings on petitions challenging the official results.

"The Central Election Commission acknowledged during the Constitutional Court proceedings that electoral violations occurred," Vardevanyan said. "Its position is that those violations did not materially affect the election results. We contend that they did."

Vardevanyan also criticized the ruling Civil Contract party for fully endorsing the CEC's legal argument, saying the government's position mirrored the commission's assertion that the documented violations were insufficient to alter the outcome.

He further questioned the composition of the parties appearing before the court, arguing that the proceedings lacked consistency after the Constitutional Court deemed the participation of judge Vladimir Vardanyan inadmissible while allowing the CEC to be represented solely by Vahagn Hovakimyan.

The Constitutional Court on June 26 opened hearings in a consolidated case stemming from petitions filed by seven political groups seeking to overturn the official results of the June 7 parliamentary elections.