Absentee Voting

I’ve heard on the grapevine — well, actually from a very significant individual involved in the electoral process here — that attempts will be made to resolve the issue of absentee voting for the presidential election early next year. In the recent parliamentary election, the right to vote for Armenian citizens living or working abroad was actually taken away. Hetq Online covered this issue by publishing two letters from such voters deprived of their constitutional right to participate in the electoral process here and here.

Dear HETQ, I am Grigor Simonyan, citizen of Armenia. Presently, for educational reasons, I live in the Great Britain. I have called to the Armenian Embassy in London to check up for further details about how I can use my right to vote from the Embassy. Due to the legislative changes Armenian Government introduced, the embassies do not function as voting polls now. Therefore, I have lost my vote.

The legislative changes do deprive me and many other Armenians to participate in the elections. Nevertheless, I find it absolutely unacceptable, especially if no alternative is offered instead (electronic voting or voting by mail).

I believe, especially in the case of Armenia, when there are many Citizens abroad, the law can be a good excuse and a opportunity for mass falsifications. I am writing to express my disagreement and anger on the occasion. I do hope the problem will be voiced and that international observers will take it into account.

On our request to comment on the letters the Central Electoral Committee and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs explained that the Armenian Embassies in foreign countries were informed about the changes in the Electoral Code concerning voting rights of the Armenian citizens currently living abroad and therefore it was their duty to inform those in the country. As well as several press conferences were organized in Yerevan on this issue.

In February 26, 2007 the National Assembly of Armenia accepted the law “About changes and additions to the Electoral Code” by which the First article in the Electoral Code was supplemented with the following point: “In the Republic of Armenia the elections are held only in the territory of the Republic of Armenia”.

Interestingly, this issue has also been raised with regards to the question of the restriction on dual citizenship being lifted in the November 2005 referendum to amend the Constitution although the issue of voting rights for ethnic Armenians in the Diaspora still remains unclear to me. However, some consider that such a development would have a significant impact on the conduct and outcome of future elections in Armenia.

The adoption of Armenian citizenship by tens of thousands of Armenian Diasporans around the world, often with conflicting cultural backgrounds due to the influences of their upbringing in their host countries and contrary political views about democracy, electoral process and the role of government in the lives of its citizens, and the extent of acceptable government involvement in the economic performance of the state, could significantly affect the outcome of political campaigns in Armenia, especially that of presidential elections in 2008.

Certainly, from reading this report from RFE/RL when the controversial bill on dual citizenship was passed in February it looks as though Diasporan citizens will be allowed to vote in elections here. There are obviously some concerns that such a possibility would allow those born and living abroad too much influence in a country they know little or next to nothing about. With the main pro-government TV stations broadcasting via satellite to the Diaspora, this could be considered a very worrying development.

Deputies voted by 66 to 5, with one abstention, to pass, in the second and final reading, a package of government-drafted amendments to relevant Armenian laws, despite serious objections voiced by the leaders of the parliament’s largest faction.

The legislators representing the governing Republican Party (HHK) insisted as recently as last Thursday that dual citizens from the worldwide Armenian Diaspora be granted voting rights only if they live in Armenia during at least one of the five years preceding a particular election. The demand was backed by the parliament’s opposition minority which boycotted the parliament vote. Justice Minister David Harutiunian, who authored the amendments on behalf of the government, rejected it as unconstitutional.

Parliament speaker Tigran Torosian and virtually all other Republicans eventually fell in line, suggesting that President Robert Kocharian personally pushed for the bill’s adoption. Torosian attributed the U-turn to a “political agreement” reached by the country’s governing coalition.

[…]

The Armenian Revolutionary Federation (Dashnaktsutyun), another coalition member and the main proponent of the right to dual nationality, welcomed the adoption of the bill. Dashnaktsutyun deputies celebrated it with an improvised reception promptly held in their parliament offices. “This law is an opportunity to consolidate our nation,” one of them, Ruben Hovsepian, said.

Dashnaktsutyun leaders earlier shrugged off opposition claims that the nationalist party has been strongly advocating introduction of dual citizenship because it has many members and supporters in the Diaspora.

The ban on dual citizenship was imposed by former President Levon Ter-Petrosian and his Armenian Pan-National Movement (HHSh), which remains staunchly opposed to the idea. The HHSh deputy chairman, Andranik Hovakimian, insisted on Monday that it is “extremely dangerous” and fraught with “numerous risks” for Armenia’s national security.

Regardless, with a significant number of Armenian citizens living and working abroad, particularly in Russia, this would be an interesting development if it also went in tandem with examining inaccuracies in the voters list. On the other hand, the current stipulation that Armenians voting in elections do so only in Armenia might be a blessing in disguise so it’s ironic that pro-opposition media outlets and international organizations might be looking to reinstate absentee voting instead.

Still, the number of Armenians in the Diaspora who take dual citizenship is not going to be significant in the short-term, and it’s even less likely that many would travel to Armenia in order to vote as long as that voting restriction remains, but anyway. I’ll post more if any new information comes my way.