By Tigran Torosyan (Center for Perspective Research and Initiatives and Russian-Armenian University)

Introduction
Parliamentary elections were held in Armenia on June 7, 2026, the final results of which were announced on June 14 (Final results, 2026). 19 parties submitted documents to participate in the elections, and 58.9 percent of voters chose the composition of the parliament. According to published data from the Central Election Committee (CEC), one party and two alliances of parties entered the National Assembly of Armenia – the Civil Contract (ruling party), which received 49.75 percent of the vote, the Strong Armenia Alliance – 23.27 percent, and the Armenia Alliance – 9.92 percent.
According to the latest published data (Panorama, 2026) from MPG (a full member of the GALLUP International Association), the results of the latest sociological survey (conducted on June 19-21, two weeks before the election, 1,102 respondents were interviewed) regarding electoral preferences and the level of readiness of citizens to participate in the parliamentary elections on June 7, 59.3% of participants said they would “definitely participate” in the vote. 28.8% of the respondents said they would vote for the ruling Civil Contract party, 14.9% for the Strong Armenia bloc, 12.1% for the Armenia bloc, 8.7% for the Prosperous Armenia party, 5.8% for the Wings of Unity party (The data is provided for those parties and alliances that, according to the survey, exceeded the minimum thresholds for parties and alliances – 4 and 8 percent, respectively).
The elections were held under the very strong influence of the geopolitical factor, as a result of which, under the dictation of the government, the CEC committed a gross, deliberate violation of the Electoral Code. As a result, the distribution of parliamentary seats was grossly distorted, both qualitatively (one of the opposition parties- Prosperous Armenia party, did not enter parliament) and quantitatively (the ruling party won more than 3/5 of the parliamentary seats, hence the possibility of changing constitutional laws and appointing some important posts without the support of part of the opposition).

Analysis of the electoral process and the results published by the CEC
Obviously, the results of opinion polls accurately reflected the percentage of voter participation in the elections (just below 60 percent), which is a high indicator for European countries. Unfortunately, the encouraging facts are limited to this. The forecast for the formation of the parliament differs fundamentally from the results published by the CEC, not only in terms of the ratio of seats won by political parties in the National Assembly, but also in terms of the quality of the composition. It was predicted that the ruling party and four opposition parties and alliances would enter parliament, but in fact the ruling party and two opposition parties passed.
But the problem is not that for the ruling party, the CEC recorded 73 percent more votes than predicted, or that, according to the Central Election Commission, the Wings of Unity party received 2.5 times fewer percent than the polls predicted.
It may seem paradoxical, but the meaning of these huge discrepancies is related to the thousandths of one percent of the indicator of another opposition party, Prosperous Armenia, which was forced out of the National Assembly by the CEC at the cost of gross, deliberate violations. The fact is that according to the preliminary election results, this party received 3.996 percent of the votes, while 4 percent was required to enter parliament (i.e. 0.004 percent of the votes were missing). After the recount of votes in some polling stations, it turned out that when adding up the votes according to the protocols drawn up in these precincts, the CEC “lost” almost 200 votes of the Prosperous Armenia party, and after their restoration it became clear that this party had also entered parliament. But the adventures didn’t end there. It turned out that after the restoration of the “lost” votes and the redistribution of parliamentary seats in the National Assembly, the ruling party did not even get 3/5 seats, which, according to the Armenian Constitution, made it possible to change constitutional laws and appoint its own people to some important government posts without the consent of the opposition. In order to provide this important tool for the ruling party, the CEC annulled the voting results of three polling stations and took away more than 230 votes of the Prosperous Armenia party. After that, the percentage of votes of this party decreased again (3.9893), the number of parties decreased from 4 to 3, and after the redistribution of parliamentary seats, the ruling party won 3/5 seats. Article 95 of the Electoral Code states:
“Article 95. Summarisation of results of elections of the National Assembly
1. The Central Electoral Commission shall, in the manner and within the time limit prescribed by Article 75 of this Code, summarise the results of the election and adopt any of the following decisions:
(1) on the National Assembly being elected and distribution of mandates;
(2) on preliminary distribution of mandates of Deputies of the National Assembly;
(3) on calling a repeat voting in separate electoral precincts;
(4) on declaring the elections of the National Assembly as invalid and calling repeat voting for elections;
(5) on declaring the repeat voting for elections of the National Assembly as invalid. In that case the President of the Republic shall call a new regular election of the National Assembly.

It is obvious that the cancellation of the results in three precincts had an impact on the election results (the distribution of parliamentary seats), as there were both qualitative (instead of four parties and alliances, there were three) and quantitative (the distribution of parliamentary seats) changes in the election results, as a result of which the ruling party received privileges. However, article 101 imperatively requires a repeat vote in those polling stations where the annulment of the results had an impact on the election results.:
“Article 101: The appointment of a repeat vote for elections to the National Assembly, recognition of election results as invalid.
1. Where in the course of elections, such violations of this Code have taken place that might have affected the election results, the Central Electoral Commission shall adopt a decision on holding a repeat voting in separate electoral precincts, where it is possible to remedy the consequences of those violations by such measure. Where it is not possible to remedy these violations by such measure, elections of the National Assembly shall be declared as invalid, and a repeat voting for the elections of the National Assembly shall be called.

However, the CEC refused to announce a repeat vote in these three polling stations, grossly and intentionally violating the Electoral Code.
The opposition may appeal the actions of the Central Election Commission to the Constitutional Court.
The question may arise – what is the reason for such a fierce struggle?

The Geopolitical component of elections
The fact is that Armenia is in one of the epicenters of the geopolitical confrontation between Russia and the West for the formation of a new world order (Torosyan, Vardanyan, 2024, 2026).
After the revolution in Armenia in 2018, as a result of which the current ruling party came to power, the country’s foreign policy course was dramatically changed. If before that it was balanced between Russia and the West, then after the revolution the authorities took an obvious pro-Western course. This had a dramatic impact on Armenia’s relations with Russia, and on the process of resolving the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict led by the Co-Chairs (Russia, the United States, and France) of the OSCE Minsk Group. This process, the settlement document of which provided for the holding of a referendum on the independence of Nagorno-Karabakh, was stopped, in 2020 the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, inhabited by Armenians, was subjected to military aggression by Azerbaijan, and in 2023 – ethnic cleansing, genocide, and the Minsk Group was disbanded. Azerbaijani military formations occupied 240 square kilometers of the territory of Armenia and the Armenian authorities agreed to comply with Azerbaijan’s demands, including changing the border, changing the country’s constitution, etc. The Armenian authorities are trying to find support in the West and have adopted a law on the start of the EU membership process, although it is obvious that Armenia is not ready and will not be ready for this for several decades in many ways. In 2025, the United States joined the process of Armenia’s Westernization. Obviously, in the situation that has developed under the influence of the struggle for a new world order, the EU and the United States are interested in ousting Russia from the South Caucasus, and in this regard, they are interested in winning the parliamentary elections of the current authorities, who unquestioningly follow the instructions of Western partners. It is no coincidence that a few weeks before the election, unprecedented events occurred in the pre-election situation. The 8th summit of the European Political Community was held in Armenia, during which EU leaders openly expressed support for the ruling party, French President Macron participated in the party’s election campaign, US Vice President Vance expressed support, and a few days before the election, Secretary of State Rubio changed the route of his visits by 45 minutes. and a few days before the election, Secretary of State Rubio changed the route of his visits and his plane landed in Yerevan for 45 minutes. In airport ht signed documents with the Armenian Foreign Minister on the provision of Armenian territory for the implementation of the TRIPP program, about strategic partnership and extraction of Armenia’s most important minerals and rare metals. Russia’s sanctions against Armenia for the export of agricultural products of Armenian fruits and vegetables followed. It is obvious that in such a difficult situation, the Armenian authorities need strong influence in parliament and for this they do not shy away from not only forcibly changing the composition of the Constitutional Court, detaining more than 700 of their political rivals, including the leader of the leading opposition party, initiating baseless criminal cases, but also violating the norms of laws and the constitution.

Conclusion
An analysis of the processes of preparation and conduct of parliamentary elections, post-election developments, as well as fierce geopolitical rivalry in the region shows that
1. During the period of aggravation of geopolitical clashes, the absence of institutionalized political parties and traditions of political culture in the post-Soviet space is fraught with very dangerous challenges for the countries of this region, since there are practically no international checks on compliance with the principles and norms of international law and order due to the fact that influential countries that must guarantee compliance with these principles themselves very often they do not follow the principles in order to achieve geopolitical goals.
2. In these countries, during the pre-election period, on election day and post-election period, unprecedented violations of legislation, the use of administrative resources, harassment of political rivals, “dirty” methods of struggle, etc. are observed, as there are no internal mechanisms of political culture to deter reckless and adventurous steps.
3. The parliamentary elections in Armenia in 2026 fully correspond to the trend described in paragraphs 1 and 2. It came to the point that the Central Election Committee refused to comply with the imperative requirement to hold repeat voting in three polling stations and qualitatively and quantitatively distorted the election results in favor of the ruling party.
4. The Constitution and the Electoral Code (Constitutional Law) of Armenia provide the last chance for a civilized rescue of the situation related to the parliamentary elections in 2026. The opposition parties of Armenia should challenge the election results in the Constitutional Court and the court should annul the results of these elections. Of course, it cannot be ruled out that, under pressure from the authorities, the Constitutional Court, like the CEC, may also ignore the obvious facts, the norms of the Constitution, the Law on the Constitutional Court and the Electoral Code. However, it should be borne in mind that these elections and the parliament formed on the basis of their results will be illegal and illegitimate and will not only further destabilize the situation, but also put the country in front of new and more difficult challenges.

Photo source: https://www.iiss.org/online-analysis/online-analysis/2026/06/armenias-election-and-peace-in-the-south-caucasus/