Armenian president, Armen Sarkissian and leaders of different political parties have already cast their vote. President Sarkissian spoke this morning with the Chairman of the Central Elections Commission as well as the heads of the police and security services to discuss the election process.

Armenia prime minister Nikol Pashinyan went to the polling station accompanied by his family. He made no comments to the press, but later wrote on his Facebook page: "I am voting for the future of our state and people, for the development of Armenia."

Armenia’s second president, Robert Kocharian (See picture), considered the most serious challenger to Pashinyan in this election has also already voted. Kocharian told the press "I voted for a dignified peace, then for economic growth, this is the choice".

Armenian Elections 2021 – Live Blog
Editors: William Murray and Noman Ahmed

Good morning and welcome to this commonspace.eu live blog, following developments in Armenia as the country votes in what some have described as the most important elections in its modern history. We are joined by our team of experts here at the commonspace.eu offices in The Hague as well as contributors in Brussels, Yerevan and Tbilisi as we assess the elections and their impact on Armenia and the region.

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Voting started at 0800 local time in polling stations around the country. There are 2,578,678 eligible to vote according to data published by the police this morning.

This was the scene at polling station no 6 in Yerevan as the first voters arrived to cast their vote around four hours ago. (Picture from live feed)