Armenian parliamentary elections: LIVE UPDATED

Parliamentary elections are being held in Armenia today, June 7.

10:00

An incident was reported at one of the polling stations where a citizen allegedly attempted to take out ballot number 16, according to a post on social media by Vahagn Aleksanyan, a member of Armenia’s ruling Civil Contract faction.

“I am more than certain that this is one of the conditions for receiving an electoral bribe. All such cases will be reported to the police, and I hope law enforcement officers will immediately arrest these individuals on suspicion of receiving an electoral bribe,” Aleksanyan wrote on Facebook.

09:30

Separate cases of missing election commission members were recorded at the time polling stations opened, the head of the Central Election Commission of Armenia, Vahagn Hovakimyan announced.

“By 08:00, 50 members of commissions were absent in 48 out of 2,005 polling stations. Only in three cases did this involve senior positions — two chairpersons and one secretary,” Hovakimyan said during a briefing summarizing the first hour of voting.

He emphasized that the Electoral Code provides mechanisms allowing commissions to continue their work even in such situations.

08:53

Voting began at 08:00 local time and will continue until 20:00, after which election commissions will begin counting the ballots. According to Armenia’s Migration and Citizenship Service, 2,489,031 citizens are eligible to vote in the parliamentary elections, with 2,005 polling stations open across the country. Representatives of 71 media outlets are covering the vote. The electoral process is being monitored by 13 domestic and eight international observer missions accredited for the elections.

A total of 16 political parties and two electoral blocs are participating in the vote. The contenders include the Armenia Alliance, Strong Armenia Alliance, Civil Contract, Prosperous Armenia, Meritocratic Armenia, Against All, Democratic Consolidation, Wings of Unity, Bright Armenia, National Democratic Pole, Christian Democratic Party, Armenian National Congress, New Power, Republic Party, Reformists Party, Democracy, Law and Order, Kochari National Revival and National Awakening Party, and the Rally for the Republic.

The electoral threshold for entering parliament is 4% for political parties and 8% for electoral blocs.