Lawyer: Prosperous Armenia Party overcame 4% threshold, but was  excluded from parliament due to actions of CEC

ArmInfo.The Prosperous Armenia Party effectively overcame the 4% threshold, but was excluded from the National Assembly due to the actions—or inaction—of the Central Election Commission (CEC), as stated by lawyer Aram Orbelyan,  who is representing the party's interests, during his address to the  Constitutional Court.

"On June 8, the Prosperous Armenia Party announced that there were  discrepancies in data at least at several polling stations. The party  informed the CEC of this through established procedural channels. On  June 8 at 4:10 PM, Iveta Tonoyan published a post on her social media  page clearly identifying four polling stations: 27/7, 11/20, 27/26,  and 38/53. It was noted that at one station, 77 votes were received,  of which only one was recorded; at another, 26 votes were cast, with  only one recorded, and so on. The issue was not that the count itself  was incorrect or that the protocol was improperly drafted; rather,  the CEC was simply unable to input this data," Orbelyan stated.

"Why is this significant? Because if the counting had been processed  correctly, it would have been confirmed on June 8 that the party had  crossed the 4% threshold. On June 10, Iveta Tonoyan published another  post stating that the remaining 600-plus polling stations were being  recounted, and that 140 votes had already been added to the PAP's  total. However, on June 14, the CEC adopted a decision declaring the  results of those specific stations invalid and claimed the party did  not enter the National Assembly," Orbelyan noted.

He drew the Court's attention to the internationally recognized  principle of "protecting the vote." According to the attorney, if  there are reasonable doubts or technical errors that could influence  the will of the electorate, the court is obligated to rule in favor  of protecting the voters' rights. "We are defending the votes of  58,500 citizens. It has been proven that the party received this many  votes, and no technical obstacles should deprive these people of  their representation in the National Assembly," he argued.

At the conclusion of his speech, Orbelyan presented two potential  solutions to the Constitutional Court:  either fully annul the  election results or, if that request is denied, revise the mandate  distribution process to allocate the five seats the party is entitled  to.

It should be noted that the Constitutional Court is currently in the  final stages of hearings regarding the challenges to the election  results. The Court is expected to reach a final decision on the  petitions filed by seven political forces by the 4th of July.