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According to the present law, invalid ballots do not have any impact when counting the results and inaccuracies of the elections at.  In a conversation with 1in.am, Artur Sakunts, Chairman of Helsinki Citizens’ Assembly-Vanadzor stated that the number of invalid ballots was large primarily in the case of the majoritarian system as about 50 % consciously invalidated their votes.

Before the parliamentary elections, Helsinki Citizens’ Assembly-Vanadzor initiated court proceedings to add the “Against All” option in ballots; however, the Administrative Court declined the request, on the grounds that it was an unreasonable request.  According to the Electoral Code, the CEC defines the form, and according to law the “against all” option it is applicable if one candidate is nominated.   However, if there is more than one candidate, there is only the “for” option. According to Sakunts, this is a violation of equality of right to vote. The CEC reasons its decision based on the norms of the Electoral Code, but according to the Constitution the power belongs to the people who implement their authorities by representatives elected by them on equality principle.

“The vote of the constituency must not depend on the number of candidates and the CEC restricts the right of voters in this case,” said Sakunts. He added that it referred to the norm of the Constitution but as it turns out, the CEC prefers the Electoral Code to the Constitution.

Over the next six months, Helsinki Citizens’ Assembly-Vanadzor will turn to the Constitutional Court of Armenia to appeal the constitutionality of that provision in the Electoral Code.

“The principle of the right to vote is not really ensured. The vote must be considered valid and taken into consideration when counting the results. At present, if the majority of voters cast a vote «against» and does not favor any political force or candidate, the vote is not considered in the results. Omitting “Against All” the voters’ impact on the formation of the government is reduced, which is un-democratic,” stated the human rights activist.

According to the preliminary results of the elections to the National Assembly, under the majoritarian system, of the 53,812 citizens who participated in voting, 1 million 574, 430 citizens were invalid.

Source: http://www.1in.am