Armenian citizens not to use ID cards at elections
YEREVAN, March 20. /ARKA/. On Tuesday session’s second and final reading the National Assembly of Armenia approved a package of amendments to the law “On passport” and a number of other related laws directed to the refusal fr om applying an identification card as an identity document at the elections.
“In the process of voting there can arise problems related to stamping the document, as an identification card is, in fact, a magnetic carrier and loses its value when stamped,” Grigor Muradyan, First Deputy Minister of Justice said while presenting the bill.
At the first reading on September 15 the National Assembly of Armenia adopted a bill “On Identification Cards”, amendments to the law “On passports” and a number of related laws on issuing identification cards and biometric passports.
This new system will raise the overall security level due to a document’s additional technical security means and will ease the process of applying identity documents in the daily life of the citizens. Moreover, the new documents are believed to facilitate the process of entry to Schengen area.
An identification card, that will be issued as an ordinary plastic card, is for home use only, wh ereas a passport, designed as the current passport of Armenia’s citizen- for travel abroad. Besides personal data, digital photo, electronic signature, the passport for travel abroad will contain prints of two index fingers of its holders.
Such data as nationality and blood group may be included into the document on a citizen’s request.
An identification card will be valid for 10 years and offered to all the citizens over 16 years old, and a passport, with 5-year authenticity, can be issued and received at any age.
In functional terms, a map will replace many other documents due to integration of many systems such as healthcare, insurance. The package of amendments also includes refusal from the current social cards, as the new documents will already contain a social number.
New documents will gradually replace the former ones. Whenever the current passports are considered invalid the citizens will be able to get already new documents. However, a citizen will be obliged to pass the current passport in order to receive a new ID- card and biometric passport. -0-
