It is an established principle that legislation regulating fundamental rights should be adopted openly, following public debate. Any electoral reform process should therefore be subject to open debate at the national level, as public discussion “will enrich the comparative perspective and the analysis of other experiences”; this will also enhance the transparency of the process of developing electoral legislation as well as ensure confidence in the adopted electoral legislation. In the past, the Venice Commission and OSCE/ODIHR have repeatedly underscored the need for public discussion and broad consultations with all electoral stakeholders in respect of electoral reform. The new Electoral Code was adopted by the National Assembly on 25 May 2016 by a significant majority. Subsequently, the governing and opposition parties continued negotiations on additional amendments to the Code and reached an agreement, which led to the adoption of amendments by the National Assembly on 30 June 2016. In addition, the Armenian authorities discussed further proposals to improve the Electoral Code with the Venice Commission and OSCE/ODIHR, which resulted in additional amendments being adopted, also on 30 June 2016.