Ballot stations operate as usually during elections, Armenia’s electoral commission says

YEREVAN, February 18. /ARKA/. All 1,988 polling stations across Armenia are operating as usually during elections, head of the country’s central electoral commission Tigran Mukuchyan told journalists.

The presidential vote started today 8:00 sharp, at all polling stations apart from seven stations at penitentiary institutions where the ballot starts 10:00 o’clock in the morning in one of them and 17:00 at the others, Mukuchyan said.

Out of 15,904 members of local ballot commission 126 have not turned up. Yet, an additional of only eight people was required to be involved to comply with the respective electoral code requirements, according to the report.

“As concerns the most problematic issue of the previous elections, the ink, it was tested at all ballot stations in the morning; no single problem has been reported so far”, Mukuchyan said.

During the parliamentary elections in May 2012, citizens complained that stamps disappeared from passports earlier than required (ink should disappear not earlier than within 12 hours after stamping) due to poor quality of the ink.

Seven contenders are running for the country’s president: incumbent president Serzh Sargsyan, former prime minister and leader of Freedom party Hrant Bagratyan, former foreign minister and leader of Heritage party Raffi Hovhannisyan, well-known Soviet dissident and leader of National Self-Determination party Paruyr Hayrikyan, ex foreign minister of Karabakh Arman Melikyan, political scientist and head of Radio Hay Andrias Ghukasyan and specialist in epic studies Vardan Sedrakyan. -0-