L A W S
ELECTORAL CODE OF THE REPUBLIC OF ARMENIA
Adopted by the National
Assembly of the Republic of Armenia,
on February 5, 1999
Third Reading
P A R T T W O
Section four: ELECTIONS OF THE PRESIDENT OF THE
REPUBLIC
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
NOMINATION AND REGISTRATION OF THE CANDIDATE FOR THE
PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC
Article 66: The Right to Nominate a Candidate for the
President of the Republic
In the procedure established by Articles 67-69 of this Code, parties and citizens have
the right to nominate a Candidate for the President of the Republic.
Article 67: Nomination of the Candidate for the President of the Republic by
Parties
1. A party nominates a candidate for the President of the Republic by the decision of
its permanently functioning body.
2. In the event of the support of the same person’s candidature by different
parties, party alliances can be set up.
3. Party alliances can be set up in the event of the union of at least two parties
supporting the candidature of the same person.
4. In the period of the elections, parties, within a party alliance, cannot join other
party alliances.
5. The decision on joining a party alliance is made by the permanently functioning body
of the party.
6. The party alliance is registered in the Central Electoral Commission not later than
within three days after the submission of the decision of the permanently functioning body
of the parties. Each party has the right to nominate one candidate for the President of
the Republic.
7. The decision of the permanently functioning body of the party on the nomination of a
candidate for the President of the Republic shall include the following data of the
candidate nominated:
1). family name and first name;
2). the year, month and date of birth;
3). place of residence;.
4). place of work and position (occupation);
5). party affiliation;
6). passport number;
7). declaration about his/her private property and his/her and his/her family
members’ income for the last one year.
8. Together with the submission of the party’s decision on the nomination of a
candidate for the President of the Republic to the Central Electoral Commission, the
charter of the party, which has nominated a candidate for the President of the Republic is
also submitted (in the event of the party alliance – the charters of al the parties
in the alliance).
9. The permanently functioning supreme body of a party submits to the Central Electoral
Commission data of two plenipotentiary representatives for registration (family name,
first name, date of birth, passport number, place of work and position (occupation).
10. The party shall submit the documents on the nomination of a candidate for the
President of the Republic mentioned in the points two and three of this Article and data
on plenipotentiary representatives to the Central Electoral Commission within the term,
established in point one of Article 89 of this Code.
11. The Central Electoral Commission ascertaining the validity of the submitted
documents, within five days after the expiration of the term of supporting the nomination
gives to the party (party alliance) in the person of their plenipotentiary representatives
registered with the Central Electoral Commission, the official papers supporting the
nomination of a candidate for the President of the Republic. A protocol on the allocation
of the official papers supporting the nomination is compiled.
A candidate for the President of the Republic is considered as nominated, if at least
35,000 citizens have supported his nomination by signing in the official papers supporting
the nomination.
Article 68: Nomination of the Candidate for the President of the
Republic by Citizens
1. At least 100 citizens of the Republic of Armenia can form an initiative group
for the nomination of a candidate for the President of the Republic.
2. The initiative group applies in writing to the Central Electoral Commission, with a
request for registration, and to this end, besides the application, submits the decision
of the meeting on the nomination of a candidate for the President of the Republic, as well
as data for two plenipotentiary representatives of the initiative group, as mentioned in
Article 67 of this Code and the letters of attorney, as established by the law.
3. The decision of the meeting of the initiative group shall contain the data about the
nomination for the candidate for the President of the Republic, mentioned in point seven
of Article 67 of this code, as well as the family names, first names, dates of birth,
identification document numbers, places of residence and signatures of the members of the
initiative group.
4. Upon the submission of the required documents to the Central Electoral Commission
the plenipotentiary representatives of the initiative group are handed the official papers
on the support of the nomination in the procedure and dates established in point eleven of
Article 67 of this code.
5. Each initiative group has the right to nominate one candidate for the President of
the Republic.
Article 69: Procedure for Collecting Signatures in Official Papers for
Supporting the Nomination of Candidates for the President of the Republic
1. Each official paper supporting the nomination of the candidate for the President of
the Republic shall contain the family name, first name, year, month and date of birth,
place of residence, place of work and position (occupation) of the nominated candidate.
2. The official paper of the support of the presidential nominee is a numbered booklet
printed in a printing house, containing 500 numbered lines for the citizens’ family
name, first name, place of residence, where the voter is registered, identification
document number and the signature. The number of the booklet is mentioned on each page of
the official paper.
3. A separate line is set at the bottom of each page of the official paper for the
support, for the family name, first name, place of registered residence, passport number
and signature of the person responsible for collection of signatures.
4. A separate line is set at the bottom of each page of the official paper for the
support for the signature of the person, who has received the official paper of support
from the Central Electoral Commission.
5. The plenipotentiary representatives of each party (party alliance) or the initiative
group are handed 80 official papers for support of the nomination.
6. Each party or initiative group organizing the nomination of the candidate for the
President of the Republic decides itself on the persons that it trusts to collect the
signatures – giving them a certificate.
7. Every citizen personally signs in the official paper of support.
8. For the purpose of collecting signatures it is prohibited to give (promise),
personally or through other means, money, bonds, food, goods or render (promise) services
to citizens free of charge.
Article 70: Verification of the Validity of Citizens’ Signatures in the
Official Papers for Supporting the Nomination
1. When receiving the official papers for the support of nomination the Central
Electoral Commission counts the total number of the collected signatures and gives out a
receipt to the person authorized to submit the official papers.
2. Falsified signatures and signatures belonging to a person without the right to vote,
as well as the signatures of those voters, whose data has been entered onto the official
papers wrongly, are considered as invalid.
3. The Central Electoral Commission verifies the validity of signatures by a two per
cent selective verification of the actual number of signatures in each booklet. To this
end the Central Electoral Commission:
1). in the procedure established by itself for drawing a lot receives the numbers of
the two per cent of signatures from the total number of signatures available in the given
booklet. The protocol thereof contains the numbers of signatures subject to verification
in the official paper for the support of each nomination with the data of the citizen;
2). as a result of verification a protocol on the invalid signatures shall be compiled,
mentioning the number of the official paper, number of signatures and the data of
citizens;
3). the relationship of valid and invalid signatures in the two per cent of the total
number of signatures proportionally extends to the total number of signatures, thus
getting the number of valid and invalid signatures within the total number of signatures.
A protocol is compiled on the results of the verification.
Upon the request of the candidate or his/her plenipotentiary representative, the copies
of all the protocols on the verification of the validity of signatures are promptly handed
to him/her.
Article 71: The Electoral Deposit of the Nominated Candidate for the
President of the Republic
1. The candidates nominated for the President of the Republic pay an electoral deposit
to the Central Electoral Commission account, opened in the Central Bank of the Republic of
Armenia, in the amount of 5,000 times the minimum salary, established by the legislation
of the Republic of Armenia. In the event of receiving five per cent and more of the
votes cast for the candidates, the sum of the electoral deposit is returned within sixty
days after the election results are summarized.
2. In the event of receiving less than five per cent of the votes cast for candidates
nominated for the President of the Republic the sum of the electoral deposit of the
candidate is transferred to the state budget.
3. In the event of recognizing the election as invalid or not held, the sum of the
electoral deposit is returned.
Article 72: Registration of the Candidate Nominated for the President
of the Republic
1. Each nominated presidential candidate can be registered upon the nomination by one
party or by one initiative group.
2. The Central Electoral Commission considers the registration of a candidate nominated
for the President of the Republic, if within the term established by points one and two of
Article 89 of this Code the following documents have been submitted:
1). official paper for the support of nomination filled out in the procedure
established by Article 69 of this Code;
2). the receipt to the citizen nominated to run in Presidential elections, on the
payment of the electoral deposit;
3). reference on the citizenship of the Republic of Armenia for the last ten years for
the citizen nominated to run in Presidential elections;
4). reference on the permanent residence in the Republic of Armenia during the last ten
years for the citizen nominated to run in Presidential elections;
5). the written statement of the nominee on the willingness to be registered as a
candidate for the President of the Republic;
6). the declaration of the citizen nominated to run in Presidential elections on
his/her private property and his/her and his/her family members’ income for the last
one year.
3. References mentioned in the sub-points three and four, of point two of this Article
are allocated to the citizen nominated for the candidate by the authorized state body,
within three days after the application has been presented, in the procedure established
by the Central Electoral Commission.
4. Upon the receipt of the documents required for the registration of the candidate for
the President of the Republic by the Central Electoral Commission and until his
registration, the nominee or his plenipotentiary representative is entitled to attend the
session of the Central Electoral Commission, with an advisory vote.
5. The Central Electoral Commission publishes the communiqué on the registration of
the candidate for the President of the Republic within three days.
Article 73: Denial to Register the Candidate Nominated to run for Presidency
1. The Central Electoral Commission denies the registration of a presidential nominee,
if:
1). the restrictions anticipated by the Constitution of the Republic of Armenia extend
onto the nominee;
2). as a result of the verification, in the procedure established by this Code, the
number of valid signatures in the official papers for the support of the nomination of a
candidate is less than 35.000;
3). documents submitted for registration are falsified.
2. In the event of objection about the registration of the candidate for the President
of the Republic, the Central Electoral Commission puts the issue to vote. The registration
of a candidate for the President of the Republic is denied by at least with two-thirds
vote of the total number of the commission members. In case of no objection the candidate
is considered registered.
In the event of the denial in registration for Presidential candidate the sum of the
electoral deposit is paid back.
Article 74: Recognizing the Registration of the Candidate Nominated for the
President of the Republic as Invalid
1. The Central Electoral Commission recognizes the registration of a candidate
nominated for the President of the Republic as invalid, by a decision adopted with
two-thirds vote of the total number of the commission members, if after the registration,
facts are revealed, which extend onto the candidate the restrictions established by point
one of Article 73 of this Code.
2. In the event of recognizing the registration of the candidate for the President of
the Republic as invalid, the sum of the electoral deposit is paid back.
Article 75: Procedure for Appealing the Decisions on Denial of
Registration, or Recognition of the Registration of the Candidate for the President of the
Republic as Invalid
1. The decision of the Central Electoral Commission on denial of registration or
recognition of the registration of the candidate for the President of the Republic as
invalid, can be appealed to the Court within three days after the day the decision was
taken.
2. Based on the court ruling on recognizing illegal the decision on denial in
registration or recognition of the registration of the candidate for the President of the
Republic invalid – the person is considered registered or re-registered as a
candidate for the President of the Republic.
Article 76: Recognizing the Registration of the Candidate for the
President of the Republic as Out of Force
1. The registration of a candidate for the President of the Republic shall be
recognized out of force, if he/she:
1). Does not any more have the right to vote;
2). has submitted an application on self-withdrawal;
3). has died;
4). has violated the requirement set forth in point eight of Article 18 of this Code;
5). has violated the requirement set forth in point seven of Article 25 of this Code;
2. In the event of self-withdrawal of the candidacy by the candidate in the second
round, the candidate that had next maximum number of votes in the first round,
participates in the second round instead of him/her. In case there is no such a candidate,
one candidate shall be running for Presidency in the second round.
3. Based on the application of self-withdrawal the registration of the candidate is
recognized as out of force, and the sum of the electoral deposit and means left in his/her
pre-electoral fund are transferred to the state budget.
4. In the event the registration has been recognized out of force as a result of the
death of the candidate the sum of the electoral deposit is transferred to the heirs, and
the means left in the pre-election fund – to the state budget.
5.In the event of recognizing as out of force the registration of a candidate under
point eight of Article 18 and point seven of Article 25 of this Code the sum of the
electoral deposit and the means left in the pre-election fund are transferred to the state
budget.
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