On 31 March, presidential and parliamentary elections took place in Artsakh, which began at 8:00 in the morning, when 282 polling stations opened, one of which was located in Yerevan, at the building of the Permanent Representation of the Republic of Artsakh in the Republic of Armenia, and another station was established at the Shushi penitentiary institution. At 20:00, the polling centres closed.
According to data provided by the Central Electoral Commission of the Republic of Artsakh, the number of voters in the Republic of Artsakh is 105,251. 76,471 voters participated in the elections (72.7 per cent of the total). Eight electoral commissions operated in Stepanakert and the seven regions of Artsakh.
For carrying out an observation mission and covering the course of the elections for the president of the Republic of Artsakh and the National Assembly, 963 observers and 231 representatives of media outlets were accredited at the Central Electoral Commission.
Fourteen candidates were contesting the presidential office of Artsakh: Kristin Balayan, Vitaly Balasanyan, Sergey Amiryan, Davit Babayan, Bela Lalayan, Arayik Harutyunyan, Hayk Khanumyan, Davit Ishkhanyan, Vahan Badasyan, Masis Mayilyan, Ashot Ghulyan, Ruslan Israelyan, Ashot Dadayan and Melsik Poghosyan.
Twelve political forces participated in the elections for the National Assembly: the National Revival party, the United Homeland party, the Generation of Independence party, the Armenian Revolutionary Federation, the Revolutionary Party of Artsakh, the Free Homeland-UCA alliance of parties, the Justice party of Artsakh, the Democratic Party of Artsakh, the United Armenia party, the Conservative Party of Artsakh, the Communist Party of Mountainous Karabakh, and the New Artsakh alliance of parties.
According to the chair of the Central Electoral Commission of the Republic of Artsakh, Srbuhi Arzumanyan, the counting of ballots had begun at the polling stations. Preliminary results are to be announced by 1 April, at 8:00 in the evening.
Yesterday, according to preliminary midnight data, Arayik Harutyunyan was in the lead.
