Armenia votes amid mass arrests, opposition pressure and reports of election violations

(Horizon Media / YEREVAN) — Armenians are voting today in parliamentary elections unfolding under the shadow of mass arrests, police pressure on opposition forces and growing reports of irregularities across the country.

Polls opened at 8:00 a.m. local time and will close at 8:00 p.m. As of 2:00 p.m., turnout had reached 33.84%, compared to 26.82% at the same time during the 2021 parliamentary elections.

Opposition parties say the high turnout reflects the public’s desire for political change, while also warning that the ruling authorities are using law enforcement pressure to intimidate voters and weaken opposition structures on election day.

Throughout the day, opposition forces reported searches, detentions and police actions targeting their supporters, campaign offices and representatives. The Armenia Alliance said its supporters and campaign workers were being illegally detained or taken in under various pretexts, including supposed questioning as witnesses. In Gyumri, law enforcement officers searched homes linked to Armenia Alliance supporters, while police also surrounded a Strong Armenia office and detained three people.

Strong Armenia leader Samvel Karapetyan, who remains under house arrest and was escorted by police to vote, rejected allegations of vote buying and said authorities were detaining his supporters. Prosperous Armenia leader Gagik Tsarukyan also reported that dozens of his supporters had been taken in by law enforcement.

Former President Robert Kocharyan, leader of the Armenia Alliance, described the wave of criminal proceedings, arrests and detentions against opposition figures as a disgrace and said the actions were clearly aimed at spreading fear. He noted that the authorities had initiated large numbers of election-related cases almost entirely against opposition-linked individuals.

The government, meanwhile, defended the crackdown. Prime Minister’s Chief of Staff Arayik Harutyunyan claimed there could be no political pressure involved and said those accused of vote buying must be punished. Civil Contract MP Arusyak Julhakyan said the ruling party would block what she described as an attempt to seize power through electoral bribery.

Alongside the arrests, observers and party representatives reported numerous irregularities. The Armenia Alliance announced that cases had been recorded involving ballot papers being brought into polling stations and taken out of them. The bloc said its legal teams and authorized representatives were documenting the incidents and forwarding them to the proper authorities.

The Independent Observer Alliance reported irregularities in 387 polling stations out of around 1,420 observed. These included procedural violations, ballot secrecy concerns and cases of voter control or psychological pressure. Technical issues were also recorded in several polling stations, including mismatches between electronic registration slips and voter registry numbers, which slowed voting and forced manual verification.

At some polling stations, voters reported that they had not received all ballot papers, while others discovered that someone had already signed next to their name. There were also allegations of ruling party representatives approaching and whispering to voters inside polling stations, claims denied by Civil Contract representatives.

Concerns over accessibility were also raised after a wheelchair user at a Yerevan polling station had to be physically carried by police officers because the building had no ramp.

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan voted in Yerevan and said he expected the free expression of the people’s will. However, opposition leaders argue that the authorities’ actions in the days leading up to the vote and on election day itself have created an atmosphere of fear and pressure.

Former Human Rights Defender Arman Tatoyan, running as the prime ministerial candidate of Wings of Unity, warned that the election must not become a referendum on foreign interests and stressed that every citizen’s vote must be protected.

Catholicos Karekin II also cast his ballot, praying that God keep the Armenian state unshaken and bless the Armenian people to overcome the difficult trials facing the country.

Voting continues across Armenia’s 2,005 polling stations until 8:00 p.m., with the first preliminary results expected after midnight. As the day progresses, the central question remains whether the Armenian people’s vote will be freely expressed and fully protected amid unprecedented pressure on the opposition.