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The referendum on the amendments to the Constitution of Armenia can be considered as successfully held, while the voter turnout even exceeded expectations, Head of Russia’s Central Election Commission (CEC) Vladimir Churov who observed the referendum was quoted as saying by RIA Novosti.

The head of Russian CEC was among the observers of the December 6 referendum on constitutional amendments in Armenia. 

The Central Election Commission (CEC) of Armenia has published the preliminary results of the referendum on the amendments to the Constitution of Armenia after the ballots from all 1,997 polling stations across Armenia have been processed. According to the website of CEC, 825,622 voters (63.35% of the referendum participants or 32.17% of the citizens included in the voter lists) voted for the reform. 421,593 voters (32.35% of the participants or 16.42% of the citizens included in the voter lists) voted against. The Head of Armenia’s CEC Tigran Mukuchyan said that 1,296,368 voters or 50.51% of the total number of the citizens eligible for participation in the referendum voted as of 8:00 pm, December 6.

“In other words, the referendum can be considered as successfully held,” V. Churov said, noting that the turnout was somewhat higher than expected. “A turnout of 40-45% was expected,” the Russian CEC head explained.

In two of the three Armenian provinces where Russian CEC representatives observed the referendum, the voter turnout was lower than the national average, Churov said. 46% of the voters voted In Lori province, 48% participated in the referendum in Tavush, while in Kotayk province where V. Churov was present on voting day, the turnout was almost 53%.

The situation in the capital city Yerevan is calm, according to Churov. “There are no protests, at least near the building of Central Election Commission of Armenia,” he said.