Please Share, It Is Very Important: Prosecutor General's Statement

The Prosecutor General's Office of Armenia calls on voters to refrain from publicizing and posting photographs and videos of their voting results and identifiable ballots made in the voting booth, regardless of whether they are marked or not.

Below is the statement from Gor Abrahamyan, advisor to the Prosecutor General: "Photographs of ballots (either marked or voted) during the voting process and videos of ballots being torn are being published on social media. According to Article 154 of the Criminal Code of Armenia, forcing a voter to disclose their voting results to violate the secrecy of voting, checking a voted ballot to reveal the voting results, entering the voting booth, and any other violation of the secrecy of the vote is a crime punishable by up to 5 years of imprisonment. Moreover, publicly disclosing the voting results visible to third parties (excluding the person assisting the voter) and violating the secrecy of voting for profit by publishing information obtained through photographs or recordings of documents revealing the voting results is punishable by a fine from a hundred to two hundred times the minimum wage.

It is important to note that the Prosecutor General's Office has initiated the preparation of materials under Articles 180-181 of the Criminal Procedure Code of Armenia regarding all such photographs and videos that have already been published and come to the attention of the office, with the aim of verifying the presence of the elements of the crime defined in Article 154 of the Criminal Code. Furthermore, a similar process will be initiated for any new such publication that comes into the office's spotlight. Therefore, we urge voters to refrain from publicizing and posting photographs and videos of their voting results and identifiable ballots made in the voting booth, regardless of whether they are marked or not."