The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) on September 28 that Armenia’s June 7 parliamentary elections offered voters a genuine choice among political alternatives and were generally well organised. At the same time, its final observation report raised concerns over foreign interference, campaign practices and the Central Electoral Commission’s decision to annul the results from three polling stations.

According to PACE, election day itself was orderly and calm, with voting assessed positively in the large majority of polling stations observed. The delegation nevertheless assessed that the elections took place in the light of an unusually tense geopolitical environment, with what it described as unprecedented Russian interference and foreign information operations targeting Armenia during the campaign. The report refers to trade restrictions, threats concerning energy supplies, diplomatic pressure, and information campaigns aimed at influencing voters. It also noted that statements by Western and European officials supporting the Armenian authorities were perceived as foreign interference, although the observers considered these actions substantially less coercive than those attributed to Russia.

The report also highlighted problems inside the electoral process, including persistent allegations of vote-buying, misuse of administrative resources, weaknesses in campaign-finance oversight, biased media coverage and shortcomings in judicial remedies for electoral violations. PACE stated that more than 200 investigations into suspected vote-buying had been launched, while the absence of convictions at the time of the observation raised concerns about perceptions of selective enforcement. Public-sector employees also reported pressure to attend rallies organised by the ruling party.

One of the report’s most consequential findings concerns the three polling stations where the Central Electoral Commission annulled the results. Two cases involved military personnel voting after the legal closing time, while a third concerned missing ballots for one political party. The CEC decided that the annulments did not justify repeat voting because they did not affect the overall election outcome. PACE called that explanation insufficient and recommended amending the Electoral Code so that a revote would be required when annulled results could fundamentally alter the allocation of parliamentary seats.

The issue is particularly significant for Prosperous Armenia, which received 3.98 percent of the vote, narrowly missing the four-percent threshold for parliamentary representation. PACE’s calculations indicate that including the annulled results could have lifted the party above the threshold and changed the distribution of seats in the National Assembly.

The prospect that the excluded results could have changed the composition of parliament has . Tigran Abramyan of the Strong Armenia faction argued that Armenia should not become an arena for competition between Russia and Europe, while Armenia bloc MP Levon Kocharyan questioned how the election could be assessed positively when the report itself documents multiple violations. Prosperous Armenia has PACE’s recommendation on repeat voting. Party spokesperson Iveta Tonoyan said the party had effectively been denied the opportunity to enter parliament because of the annulled polling-station results.

PACE’s assessment distinguished between the overall conduct of election day and the specific shortcomings it identified in the broader electoral process. The report concluded that the newly elected authorities had received a clear mandate, while calling for urgent institutional and legal reforms.