According to preliminary results of the council elections held in the consolidated community of Vedi in Ararat Province, the Civil Contract party won with 56.2 percent. The other political force participating in the elections, My Strong Community, received 41.5 percent of the votes.
The elections in Vedi were held under a proportional electoral system. The Civil Contract list was headed by former governor of Ararat Province and former head of the State Property Management Committee Garik Sargsyan, while the first name on the My Strong Community list was Sisavan community head Spartak Tartikyan.
Hours after the start of the elections, a brawl broke out near one of the polling stations in the Urtsadzor community between supporters of Civil Contract and one opposition figure. After mutual insults, more than two dozen supporters of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan attacked a citizen with opposition views. The police reported that materials are being prepared regarding the incident.
The General Prosecutor’s Office reports that 10 cases of apparent criminal violations were recorded in the elections for the council of the consolidated Vedi community, with materials being prepared in 6 of them. According to the Prosecutor’s Office, there were cases of violating the secrecy of the election, when voting results were photographed, a case of argument and use of violence in the area adjacent to the polling station, gatherings near polling stations, repeat voting, and a case of obstructing a journalist’s activity.
Civil Contract, according to preliminary results, won the elections only on the second attempt. In the December elections in Vedi, the My Strong Community party was leading with 42.8 percent of the votes. Civil Contract was in second place with 38 percent. According to the results of the held elections, no force had managed to form a majority alone, and no agreement on alliances had been reached either. All council candidates from the proportional lists of the Civil Contract and Republic parties, which took second and third place, submitted self-withdrawal applications, therefore new elections had to be held.
