Electoral Code reforms give new opportunities-CEC president

Tigran Mukuchyan, the president of Armenia’s Central Election Commission on Friday addressed the new electoral procedures proposed under the recently elaborated bill, enumerating the expected advantages and solutions.

Speaking at a public debate, held with politicians, civil society and media representatives in Yerevan, Mr Mukuchyan particularly commented upon the clause proposing the media’s restricted access to polling stations on voting days.

“We at times met an enormous number of media representatives, also from foreign outlets, and observers from a vast number of organizations, who did not absolutely differ from proxies,” he noted.

He added that the reform in question is intended to facilitate the coverage of elections without hampering the voting process.

“During nation-wide elections, we had polling stations where there were 57 observers and media representatives put together.

If we add to that the proxies, [electoral] commission members and voters, we could see over 100 individuals’ simultaneous presence in one [electoral] precinct,” he said, adding that such a heavy presence could not contribute to an effective monitoring or coverage.

“This bill proposes new approaches and new solutions to ensure a proper arrangement and conduct of voting,” Mukuchyan said.