Armenia to toughen penalties for election bribery 

ArmInfo.Armenia is set to tighten accountability measures for election bribery. During an extraordinary session on July 2, the National Assembly began the  first- reading discussion of proposed amendments to the Criminal Code.

Specifically, the authors of the bill, NA deputies from the ruling  Civil Contract faction Alen Simonyan, Arusyak Dzhulakyan, Vahagn  Aleksanyan, Alkhas Ghazaryan, and Taguhi Ghazaryan, proposed amending  Articles 218-221 of the Criminal Code to tighten penalties for voter  bribery. This initiative aims to create stronger safeguards to  prevent and reduce the occurrence of such offenses.

According to Vahagn Aleksanyan, recent elections have seen attempts  by certain political forces to revive the practice of voter bribery—a  practice that was largely considered to have been eradicated after  2018. The proposed amendments extend prison sentences for those who  offer bribes, intermediaries, and the citizens who accept them.  Furthermore, the bill introduces specific restrictions that will  impose long-term bans on individuals convicted of election-related  crimes from holding state, municipal, or public office.