A work group was formed to revise the legislative package designing amendments and addenda to the RA Electoral Code and a number of enclosed laws was formed. In the near future external discussion will be, hearings will be organized, including all concerned parties. Effective cooperation is underway, which is aimed at the improvement of the package. The Chair of the NA Standing Committee on State and Legal Affairs Vladimir Vardanyan informed this while debating in the first reading the legislative package at the sitting of the Committee.
The RA Acting Minister of Justice Armenuhi Harutyunyan presented the main regulations. The citizens will execute easier their electoral right. In case of impossibility of voting the accounting community the citizens will be able to change the polling station electronically and will go to a new polling station by electronic notification without a certificate.
Forcing the candidates participating in the election to submit their resignations or relinquish their mandate has been criminalized: This is will be considered a criminal offense.
The terms of the regular and extraordinary elections were unified in order to more properly organize the electoral process. Now, there is differentiated approach in those issues: Tighter deadlines are set for extraordinary elections, which does not give an opportunity to properly get prepared in the electoral processes. According to Armenuhi Harutyunyan, it affects both public trust and the transparency of electoral processes.
During the re-calculation of the voting results priority will be given to the applications of the candidates, the proxies, the applications of the members of the Electoral Commission. First of all, the results of the polling stations will be recalculated, on which recalculation application will be introduced.
The range of subjects carrying out an observation mission is expanding; the foundations can also be accredited for observation. The issue of posting the campaigning materials is regulated.
An annual certification requirement is established for constituency Election Commissions, which has never been.
The issue of the powers of the Central Electoral Commission (CEC) and the Corruption Prevention Commission (CPC) in the electoral process will get a final solution. The CEC will carry out the control of only pre-electoral campaign financing, and the CPC – the control of the daily financing activity of the parties.
The Constitution and the Electoral Code prohibit the appointment of the elections and the conducting under emergency and martial law conditions, taking into consideration that it can change the situation in the country. These regulations were specified that it will be possible to understand how the elections will be organized at that time.
Administrative responsibility will be designed for not submitting the declaration on the property and revenues by the candidate within the specified period, as well as by breaking the specified period and for posting campaigning posters and campaigning printed materials in an unauthorized place.
In her co-report the member of the Committee Arpine Davoyan noted that the package has passed the stage of long debates and proposed her colleagues to vote for it.
The legislative package was endorsed by the Committee.