Yerevan City Council elections kick off

All 474 polling stations have opened in Yerevan by 08:00. The voting will continue until 20:00 after which counting of the votes will start at the regional electoral commissions. 3 political forces participate in the election – the Republican Party of Armenia (RPA), Yerkir Tsirani Party, “Yelk” bloc.

Acting Mayor of Yerevan Taron Margaryan is RPA’s candidate for mayor, Zaruhi Postanjyan is the candidate of Yerkir Tsirani Party and Nikol Pashinyan is the candidate of “Yelk” bloc.

32 local and 3 international news outlets have been accredited at the CEC Armenia for covering Yerevan Council elections. The 3 international news outlets are “Arevelk”, T24 daily, and “KavkazskiyUzel”.

Among local news outlets RFE/RL’s Armenian Service is the one that has accredited most reporters – it has 40 representatives. Public TV of Armenia has accredited 35 reporters,“Shant” TV has accredited 23 reporters, Armrus.info -37, and “Armtimes” daily 24 representatives.

Overall, 436 media representatives have been accredited for coverage of Yerevan Council elections. 17 local organizations have been accredited to observe the elections. Overall, 5138 observers will observe the elections.

International observer missions have not shown great interest in observing Yerevan Council elections. Only one international observer organization has been accredited to observe the elections – Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe.