Voter turnout in Armenian parliamentary elections is 60.86 percent

YEREVAN, April 2. /ARKA/. The voter turnout in the April 2 parliamentary elections in Armenia was 60.86% (1,574,947 people), the Central Election Commission (CEC) chairman Tigran Mukuchyan said today. According to the CEC, the number of Armenian citizens eligible to vote stands at 2, 587,706 people. According to the National Statistical Service, Armenia’s permanent population as of January 1, 2017 stood at 2,986,500. 

Over 640 foreign observers representing six organizations - the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), the CIS Interparliamentary Assembly, the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly and the European Parliament watched the polls. 

Five parties and four blocs contested  the elections: the ruling Republican Party of Armenia, the Free Democrats, the Armenian Revival, the Armenian Revolutionary Federation/ Dashnaktsutyun and the Communist Party, as well as the blocs  Yelk (Way out), Tsarukyan, Ohanyan-Raffi-Oskanian and  the Armenian National Congress- the People's Party of Armenia. To get into the parliament parties had to collect at least 5% of all votes and blocks 7%. There is no threshold for voter turnout in Armenia. 

According to an exit poll, conducted by BC/The Gallup Organization the governing Republican Party of Armenia received 46% of votes, the Tsarukyan block - 25%, the Yelk bloc - 10% and the Armenian Revolutionary Federation/ Dashnaktsutyun - 5%. These are the first elections under an amended Constitution providing for the transition from a semi-presidential form of government to a parliamentary one.  -0-