Situation in Yerevan and in the regions is relatively calm. Benyamin Poghosyan, a regular contributor to the commonspace.eu website has sent us this update from Yerevan

Armenia elects a new parliament today. Voting in 2008 electoral precincts opened at 8 AM, and voting continues until 8 PM. According to the Central Electoral Commission, 12.2 percent of population voted as of 11 AM. During the previous parliamentary elections, which took place in December 2018, 7.76 percent of voters participated in the elections as of 11 AM. Incumbent Prime Minister Pashinyan and the second President of Armenia Robert Kocharyan have already voted.

In the night before the elections thousands of anti-Kocharyan leaflets were distributed in Yerevan streets. Armenia Alliance led by Kocharyan made a special statement calling police to find the perpetuators within several hours; otherwise it would hold the government responsible. Alliance also stated that representatives of its electoral headquarters are being summoned by the police based on false accusations filed against them by the supporters of the incumbent Prime Minister.

During the morning hours there were a few reports of irregularities published on opposition social media channels. They argue that in some precincts outside Yerevan, officers convince soldiers to vote for the “Civic Contract” party led by the incumbent Prime Minister Pashinyan. However, these reports have not been independently verified yet. In general, as of 1 PM Yerevan time, situation is relatively calm in both Yerevan and regions.