Armenian constitutional referendum, 2005

A constitutional referendum was held in Armenia on 27 November 2005. The referendum was on a series of changes to the constitution of Armenia which were backed by the international community. The official results had a high turnout and overwhelming support for the changes. However the opposition and election monitors said that there were serious irregularities with the referendum.

The referendum was nicknamed the "referendum of ghosts" by the opposition.

As part of Armenia's commitment on joining the Council of Europe in 2001 changes to the 1995 constitution of Armenia were required. An earlier attempt at amending it were unsuccessful at a 2003 referendum. The early drafts of a new constitution were criticised by the Venice Commission of the Council of Europe but amendments were made in September 2005 to address their objections. The new constitution was passed by the National Assembly of Armenia unanimously after the opposition parties boycotted the vote.

The changes to the constitution would transfer some powers from the President to the National Assembly, the Prime Minister and other ministers. The independence of the judiciary was meant to be strengthened by removing the President from the Council of Judges, which appoints the judges in Armenia. The amended constitution was intended to introduce more respect for human rights and permit Armenians who live overseas to gain citizenship by allowing Armenians to be citizens of more than one nation. Other changes would give the President immunity from prosecution for most offences while in office, remove the requirement for a referendum to be held on any changes to the borders and make the mayoralty of Yerevan an elected post. Most of the changes to the constitution would come into effect after the next parliamentary elections in 2007.

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