The Parliament passed the draft law “On Making Amendments and Addenda to the Constitutional Law on the Electoral Code of the Republic of Armenia” in the first reading by 83 votes in favour, authored by the National Assembly deputies Arman Babajanyan, Sergey Bagratyan, Vahagn Hovakimyan, and Hamazasp Danielyan.
The ‘My Step’ faction, as well as the two independent deputies who co-authored it took part in the voting of the bill. The Prosperous Armenia faction did not take part in today’s special session of the National Assembly, and Bright Armenia faction did not take part in the voting, criticizing the bill during the discussion of the draft law before the vote.
The draft envisages the abolishing of rating voter lists by switching to a simple proportional electoral system. The discussion in the second reading will be organized within 24 hours.
The bill co-authors assured the Government does not abandon the idea of large-scale amendments to the Electoral Code; the package is now in the Venice Commission and the OSCE/ODIHR for an advisory opinion.
