National Assembly introduces residency requirement for elections

Armenia’s Parliament passed, in its second and final reading, amendments to the Electoral Code establishing a residency requirement for participation in elections and referendums.

63 deputies voted in favor. Under the amendments, the right to vote in elections or referendums will be granted only to citizens who, 48 days before the vote, had spent a cumulative total of more than one year in the republic over the preceding two years. Civil servants and students who have gone abroad are exempted.

The opposition called the amendments unconstitutional, accusing the authorities of violating rights and vowing to challenge the decision in court.