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On April 19, the deputies of the Standing Committee on Labor and Social Affairs of the National Assembly of Armenia met with the representatives of the Office of International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES) in Armenia. The prospects and opportunities for joint activities within the framework of powers of the Committee were discussed.

Welcoming the guests, the Committee Chair Heriknaz Tigranyan highlighted the projects implemented by the office aimed, among other things, at promoting the execution of the right of persons with disabilities to vote.

The Director of the Office Jérôme Leyraud presented the work done by the Office in the past three years within the framework of a working group jointly formed with the National Assembly directed to reforming the electoral legislation and the legislation on parties. He also referred to the effective cooperation with the state bodies.

The Senior Elections Specialist of the IFES Office in Armenia Aghasi Yesayan attached importance to the amendments to the electoral legislation, especially in terms of the change in the electoral system, which facilitated the voting procedure not only for voters with disabilities, but also for all voting participants, excluding the use of pens. A number of snap parliamentary elections and elections of the Local Self-Government Bodies were held under such an electoral system. In addition, some legislative innovations in the rights of persons with disabilities are set by transitional provisions that will be applied in the upcoming elections.

The coordinator of “Accessibility and Political Inclusion” project Arusyak Terchanyan presented the results of the survey on accessibility of polling stations implemented by them. The speaker also referred to the issue on the involvement of persons with disabilities and the NGOs, member of the Coalition for Inclusive Legal Reforms, in the work of the development of the package of amendments to the Electoral Code, as direct beneficiaries of the amendments.

The deputies Zaruhi Batoyan and Lilit Stepanyan highlighted the equal opportunities for persons with disabilities not only in terms of participating in elections as voters, but also ensuring the right to vote, the right to education and equally participating in public life with the others.

An agreement was reached to set up a working platform within the framework of the Committee jointly with the IFES Office in Armenia to jointly discuss the mapping problems and present proposals for their solution.