Opposition tells Armenia's top court CEC failed constitutional duty in vote challenge

A lawyer representing the opposition Hayastan (Armenia) alliance told Armenia's Constitutional Court on Wednesday that the Central Electoral Commission (CEC) failed to fulfill its constitutional mandate during the country's June 7 parliamentary elections, arguing that its inaction undermined voters' equal and free exercise of electoral rights.

Speaking during closing arguments in proceedings examining a petition filed by seven political groups contesting the election results, attorney Hovhannes Khudoyan said the five-day Constitutional Court hearings had demonstrated that the CEC "failed to act" and did not carry out its institutional responsibilities.

"Voters analyzing the discussions held over the past five days can conclude that the Central Electoral Commission displayed inaction," Khudoyan stated. "One could even say that we effectively did not have a CEC, because it failed to carry out its mission of ensuring the equal and free exercise of electoral rights."

Tatev Soghoyan, another representative of the Hayastan bloc, argued that the commission had initiated no administrative proceedings in response to election-related violations.

Khudoyan questioned the commission's role, saying that if its function was limited to organizing election-day logistics, it would be preferable to abolish the CEC altogether and redirect its state funding elsewhere. In a sarcastic remark, he suggested allocating the money to the production company Domino Video Production, claiming it would organize such events more effectively.

He also contended that the alleged manipulation of the election results could be demonstrated through straightforward arithmetic, arguing that calculations involving vote totals and campaign expenditures were sufficient to substantiate the claims.

Khudoyan further alleged that the ruling Civil Contract party financed a substantial portion of its election campaign using state budget resources.