Armenia’s Constitutional Court opened hearings on 26–27 June on appeals filed by seven political parties contesting the results of the 7 June parliamentary elections. Seven judges participated after two were recused over concerns about potential bias. Also present were representatives of the Central Electoral Commission (CEC), the Prosecutor’s Office, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Anti-Corruption Committee, and the ruling Civil Contract party, participating as a third party to the case. 

At the outset, several applicants challenged the Court’s composition, arguing that Judge Seda Safaryan should also have been recused over her previous political affiliation. The Court rejected those motions and proceeded. On the second day, the New Force Reformist Party withdrew its application. 

The applicant parties reiterated allegations raised during the electoral process, including misuse of administrative resources, vote-buying, campaign finance violations, organized military voting, breaches of ballot secrecy, and procedural irregularities. Prosperous Armenia asked the Court to order an expert examination of ballot envelopes, arguing they failed to protect vote secrecy, while the Armenia Alliance sought to call witnesses on alleged unreported Civil Contract campaign spending. The Wings of Unity Party called for a suspension of proceedings pending a separate administrative court review and for concluding remarks by all parties. 

The Central Electoral Commission maintained that the elections had been well administered overall despite isolated procedural shortcomings. The CEC said Armenia’s Electoral Code provides extensive safeguards and review mechanisms, noted that around 30% of polling stations had already been recounted, and confirmed that voting was livestreamed at most stations, with recordings available for parties to review. The Commission defended its decision against repeat voting at invalidated stations, arguing that reruns after nationwide results are published could encourage tactical voting and distort voters’ genuine will. It asked the Constitutional Court to reject all applications. 

The Prosecutor’s Office reported 423 complaints of alleged electoral violations, leading to 332 criminal proceedings and prosecutions of 391 individuals on charges including vote-buying, obstruction of voters’ free will, and money laundering. Fifteen parliamentary candidates have been detained, with requests concerning three more still pending. Prosecutors said, however, that several allegations — including misuse of administrative resources and coercion of public sector employees — could not be sufficiently substantiated to initiate proceedings. Representatives of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Anti-Corruption Committee defended the authorities’ handling of voter registration, election security, and communication of ongoing investigations. 

Representing Civil Contract, Justice Minister Srbuhi Galyan argued that the legal threshold to invalidate election results had not been met and that none of the alleged violations were capable of affecting the overall outcome. She also rejected claims that government social programs run during the campaign constituted misuse of administrative resources, arguing that political speech in election campaigns enjoys broad constitutional protection. 

The Constitutional Court has yet to rule on the procedural motions submitted during the hearings. Proceedings will continue with a question-and-answer phase in which parties, respondents, and state institutions will examine the evidence before the Court rules on whether the certified election results should stand.