Two election commission chairpersons and one secretary were detained overnight, Central Electoral Commission Chairman Vahagn Hovakimyan said in response to questions about the absence of commission heads and other members at certain polling stations.

According to Sputnik Armenia, 50 members of election commissions are absent from 48 polling stations out of the 2,005 operating across Armenia.

“All polling stations began their work at 7:00 a.m., and all started receiving voters at 8:00 a.m. The Electoral Code provides that if a commission member does not appear at the polling station but a sufficient number of members are present between 7:00 and 8:00 a.m., replacement may not be necessary. For example, the absence of two chairpersons and one secretary is connected with a criminal-law process. They were detained overnight. We also have a case where the mother of a commission chairperson passed away during the night. The issue is related to human factors,” Hovakimyan said.

He stressed that technical issues had also been recorded at some polling stations. These involved situations where the device printed a receipt and assigned a voter number, but one or two digits differed from the information listed in the register. In such cases, instructions were given for voters to sign next to their names on the list.

The CEC chairman assured that all reports and alerts being received are under review and that efforts are being made to provide appropriate solutions.

Parliamentary elections are being held in Armenia.

A total of 18 political forces — 16 parties and two alliances — are participating in the election campaign. A total of 2,485,851 citizens are eligible to vote.