Armenia Has Banned Citizens Living Abroad From Voting

The parliament in Yerevan passed this resolution; the opposition boycotted the vote.

The Armenian Parliament has passed amendments barring citizens who permanently reside abroad from voting in elections. The bill was unanimously supported by 63 deputies from the ruling party during an extraordinary session on Friday, July 3, in Yerevan, amid a boycott by the opposition, according to a correspondent "Deutsche Welle" correspondent.

According to the amendments, only those Armenian citizens who were permanently residing in the republic 48 days before the election (or 28 days before a special election) will be eligible to vote in national elections and referendums. This means that as of the specified date, they must have been in the country for more than one year out of the past two years (at least 366 days out of the past 730).

Members of the opposition “Armenia” faction warned that they would challenge the amendments in the Constitutional Court, as they restrict citizens’ voting rights.

The amendments were adopted less than a month after the elections

The legislative amendments were introduced by members of the ruling “Civic Contract” party, which once again won the parliamentary elections on June 7. They are aimed at curbing “electoral tourism,” a practice in which Armenians living in other countries—primarily in Russia—were suspected of engaging during the recent elections. The ruling party of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan considers it unacceptable for people with Armenian passports to fly in briefly to vote and then fly back out.

Before the elections, Armenian media published investigations and interviews with citizens arriving from Russia who claimed they had flown in specifically to vote. The actual scale of this phenomenon is unknown. In May and early June, passenger traffic from Russia to Armenia increased by more than 30,000 people.

Armenia does not allow its citizens to vote abroad. Voting at embassies and consulates is available only to diplomatic staff and their family members.

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