On May 14, the residents of Yerevan, Armenia will go to the polls to elect a City Council. The capital of Armenia is home to about 40% of country’s population. Of the 1,076,000 Yerevan residents, 841,973 have the right to vote. Yerevan City Council is elected for a 4 year term, has 65 members, and elects the Mayor of Yerevan.
Three political parties are participating in Yerevan City Council Elections: Republican Party of Armenia, Yerkir Tsirany, a newly registered political party led by former member of Heritage Party Zaruhi Postanjyan, and YELK alliance of four political parties formed before 2017 parliamentary elections. Taron Margaryan (the incumbent) is the mayoral candidate from the Republican Party; the Yerkir Tsirany candidate is party chairwoman, former member of Heritage Party Zaruhi Postanjyan; and Nikol Pashinyan, a current Member of Parliament is the candidate of “YELK” alliance.
20:06
the polls have closed in Yerevan’s municipal elections. Awaiting first results from the Central Electoral Commission.
18:29
As of 5 P.M., according to the Central Electoral Commission, 290,737 people or 34.52% of eligible voters have participated in the elections.
16:05
Zaruhi Postanjyan’s Yerkir Tsirani party has called for an emergency press conference at 5 P.M.
15:05
According to the Central Electoral Commission, as of 2 P.M. 210,903 voters or 25.04% of the eligible voters in Yerevan have participated in the elections.
14:42
Candidate Zaruhi Postanjyan demanded the investigation of one of the lockers at Taron Margaryan’s campaign headquarters believed to be contaigning voter lists. The tense situation resulted in a confrontation with the police who wanted to forcefully take Postanjyan to the police station. Postanjyan, a member of the National Assembly, has immunity.
14:20
Mayorial candidate Nikol Pashinyan from the YELK Bloc cast his ballot at the 8/16 precinct.
“We are going to continue our fight to change the voter who takes bribes, we are going to attempt to understand them better and become more understandable for them. We don’t have the right to let any ballot cast in our favor to be unaccounted for. We will keep fighting for reforms”, said Pashinyan to reporters.
12:15
President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan voted at the precinct 9/18 and while answering the questions of reporters stated that he had voted for a better Yerevan and that is what Taron Margaryan’s reelection will deliver.
12:00
According to the Central Electoral Commission, as of 11 A.M. only 11.9% of the eligible voters have participated in the elections.
11:45
Current Mayor of Yerevan, Taron Margaryan, cast his vote at polling station 1/19.
Mayor of Yerevan, Taron Margaryan, at polling station 0119 getting ready to cast his vote. #Yerevanvote17 pic.twitter.com/tkIdblA4uT
— Silva Sevlian (@SilvaSevlian) May 14, 2017
11:30
CivilNet’s Silva Sevlian reports on the multi-step voting process in the polling stations.
Multi-step voting includes scanning ID, fingerprint verification, a receipt – then voter gets ballot #yerevanvote17 pic.twitter.com/RWLyotQ3GV
— Silva Sevlian (@SilvaSevlian) May 14, 2017
11:10
In polling station 4/1, a deceased person’s name was found in the voter list. A voter informed the secretary of the election commission that Norayr Avetik Barseghyan, listed under voter number 1242, is deceased. The head of the election commission has asked the police to verify the information. Observers from the Europe in Law Association announced that they will register the violation once the information has been verified.
10:50
Armenia’s Prime Minister, Karen Karapetyan voted in polling station 4/53. He told reporters that he wishes to see a city with a modern and robust system of governance, aimed at meeting the demands of of the citizens of Yerevan.
