YEREVAN, June 11. /TASS/. Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has not ruled out stripping citizens permanently residing abroad of their voting rights.
"It is obvious that there is a public demand for the establishment of a residency requirement. I believe that we must respond to this demand," Pashinyan said at a briefing in response to a corresponding journalist's question.
Earlier, a number of opposition figures reported that men of conscription age, upon arrival in Armenia at land border crossing points and at the country's airports, were being handed summonses for 25-day military training exercises. This particularly affected citizens arriving from Russia, as the current authorities feared that Armenians from Russia would vote for Samvel Karapetyan’s Strong Armenia bloc in the elections.
The handing of summonses to citizens was also confirmed by the Armenian Defense Ministry, which said this was carried out in accordance with the country's legislation. Moreover, Telegram channels associated with the government began circulating information on election day that, by decision of Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, conscript-aged Armenians arriving from Russia would not be able to leave the territory of the republic for a prolonged period. Even earlier, the same channels spread disinformation that Karapetyan allegedly intended to bring 100,000 Armenians to the country on election day to vote for him.
Later, the Factor.am portal, citing the National Security Service of Armenia, reported that in May 2025 and the first four days of June, 193,047 citizens of the republic arrived by air and land transport, while for the same period in 2026, the number was almost 180,000, that is, 13,000 fewer than a year earlier.