Voting starts in Armenia

Voting has started in parliamentary elections in Armenia. The polling stations opened to voters at 8 am and are due to close at 8 pm.

The official number of registered voters is 2,484,003 distributed over 1982 polling stations throughout the country. Voters will elect the 131 member parliament according to a proportional and majoritarian system. 90 MPs are elected by the proportional list from a choice of nine parties and blocs.

The proceedings are being monitored by 647 international and 31451 domestic observers.

As soon as voting started this morning a controversy emerged around the issue of the ink that was bering used to stamp passports of those that had voted. The ink was supposed to last for at least twelve hours but it vanished after a few minutes. The issue had been raised some days ago with the Central Electiosn Commission who had dismissed the report. This morning the Chairman of the Armenian CEC Tigran Mukchukian when asked about the vanishing ink said that it was a "technical problem" and had been solved.

Yesterday the Armenian Constitutional Court rejected a request by a number of Members of Parliament for the list of those people who had voted to be made public after the election. The proposal had been opposed by the government.

In the ninth part of its series of briefings on the 2012 Armenian Parliamentary Elections, the British organisation LINKS looks at the role of international organisations in election observation, and the increasing importance of the work of domestic observers. LINKS Analysis Briefings are available here

source: commonspace.eu

photo: Armenian president Serzh Sargsyan voting in todays Parliamentary election in Armenia (picture courtesy of news.am)

Related articles

Editor's choice
News
Borrell tells the European Parliament that the situation in Afghanistan was critical, but the EU will remain engaged

Borrell tells the European Parliament that the situation in Afghanistan was critical, but the EU will remain engaged

Borrell underlined that the European Union will make every effort to support the peace process and to remain a committed partner to the Afghan people. "Of course, we will have to take into account the evolving situation, but disengagement is not an option.  We are clear on that: there is no alternative to a negotiated political settlement, through inclusive peace talks.
Editor's choice
News
Dozens participate in new Armenia-Azerbaijan dialogue process as societies prepare for the signing of historic peace agreement

Dozens participate in new Armenia-Azerbaijan dialogue process as societies prepare for the signing of historic peace agreement

The governments of Armenia and Azerbaijan have recently agreed the text of a historic peace agreement that ends years of animosity and warfare. The agreement is expected to be signed soon. LINKS Europe, which has a long history of engagement with the process of peace in the region, recently launched a new Armenia-Azerbaijan dialogue format in the framework of the European Union's EU4Peace initiative. In the last two weeks dozens of Armenians and Azerbaijanis, including academics, students, civil society activists, journalists and other professionals, many of them young, were involved. The work is organised in five thematic groups focusing on peace and security, connectivity, environment, governance and gender and equality and in phase 2 of the project, which has just ended, around fifty participants took part in in-person and online meetings, and more than twenty others were involved indirectly. The Chairpersons of the five thematic groups met in Vilnius, 3-6 July to launch the third phase of the program. The five thematic groups are now working on separate reports, which are expected to be finished in November and presented to the two governments and other stakeholders. The reports will outline a vision, up to 2040.

Popular

Editor's choice
News
Dozens participate in new Armenia-Azerbaijan dialogue process as societies prepare for the signing of historic peace agreement

Dozens participate in new Armenia-Azerbaijan dialogue process as societies prepare for the signing of historic peace agreement

The governments of Armenia and Azerbaijan have recently agreed the text of a historic peace agreement that ends years of animosity and warfare. The agreement is expected to be signed soon. LINKS Europe, which has a long history of engagement with the process of peace in the region, recently launched a new Armenia-Azerbaijan dialogue format in the framework of the European Union's EU4Peace initiative. In the last two weeks dozens of Armenians and Azerbaijanis, including academics, students, civil society activists, journalists and other professionals, many of them young, were involved. The work is organised in five thematic groups focusing on peace and security, connectivity, environment, governance and gender and equality and in phase 2 of the project, which has just ended, around fifty participants took part in in-person and online meetings, and more than twenty others were involved indirectly. The Chairpersons of the five thematic groups met in Vilnius, 3-6 July to launch the third phase of the program. The five thematic groups are now working on separate reports, which are expected to be finished in November and presented to the two governments and other stakeholders. The reports will outline a vision, up to 2040.