Observers do not rule out presidential run-off
A presidential election will be held in the Republic of Armenia on 18 February 2013, in line with constitutional provisions. If no candidate wins an absolute majority in the first round, a second round between the top two candidates will be held two weeks later.
Eight candidates were registered for the election in an inclusive process. Another six nominees did not pay the required electoral deposit and one withdrew before the registration deadline.
This election will be the first presidential election held under the Electoral Code adopted in May 2011. The new Code was previously assessed as comprehensive and generally providing a sound basis for the conduct of democratic elections. At the same time, there are still areas where it could benefit from improvement.
The elections will be administered by the Central Election Commission (CEC), 41 Territorial Election Commissions, and 1,988 Precinct Election Commissions. The CEC is active in making preparations for the election, and met the legal deadlines to date.
Around 2.5 million voters are currently registered. Preliminary voter lists have been posted on the internet and voters can request corrections or inclusions in the voter list.
This is an extract from the Interim Report No. 1 issued by the Election Observation Mission of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights.
The full report is available here
