YEREVAN. – Local self-government elections will be conducted in Armenia on September 9 and 23, Central Electoral Commission (CEC) Chairman Tigran Mukuchyan stated during a press conference on Friday.   

On September 9, these elections will be held in 481 communities, specifically in Ararat, Armavir, Lori, Shirak, and Syunik regions. Community leaders will be elected in 379 communities and council of elders’ members will be voted for in 454 communities. 

A total of 5,201 candidates were nominated for the September 9 elections, but 412 of them formally withdrew their candidacies, and therefore there will be 4,789 candidates on the ballots. 

The largest community where local self-government elections will be held is Gyumri city, which has 79 electoral precincts, and the smallest is Syunik’s Kashuni village, which has a mere 19 voters.

Solely one candidate will run in 35 percent of the communities, and one mayoral candidate will run in Kapan, Kajaran, Agarak, and Tumanyan cities each.   

In Tigran Mukuchyan’s words, 3,236 of the 5,201candidates have no party affiliation, and 33 of the 716 candidates registered for community leadership are women.

Photo by Sona Barseghyan