Armenian Parliament Passes Controversial Bill on Voting with ID Cards

  12 November 2015    Read: 978
Armenian Parliament Passes Controversial Bill on Voting with ID Cards
With a vote of 74 for, 13 against, and 18 abstentions, Armenia`s National Assembly passed in a second and final reading at an extraordinary sitting on Wednesday bills on amendments and additions to the Electoral Code of Armenia and the RA Law on ID Cards, validating voting in elections and referendums with ID cards for individuals who do not have national passports.
The controversial bill has received strong condemnation from opposition figures and local independent experts who claim that Armenian political authorities have only initiated the changes to allow double-voting by pro-government voters in the December 6 national referendum on President Serzh Sargsyan`s initiated constitutional amendments.

Opposition Armenian National Congress (ANC) parliamentary faction secretary Aram Manukyan, in particular, argued that voting procedures could not be changed 20 days before election or referendum day; it has to be done at least 6 months prior to the event.

Lawmaker Tigran Urikhanyan, in turn, proposed to install electronic devices at polling stations which would record the participation of citizens with ID cards, while ANC MP Nikol Pashinyan suggested to eliminate the possibility of multiple voting by applying indelible ink on the voters` fingers. However, Republican Party lawmakers, who command the majority of the parliament, dismissed these measures as unnecessary.

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