Strong Armenia representative detained after incident

PanARMENIAN.Net - A representative of the Strong Armenia Alliance has been detained following an incident at a polling station during Armenia’s parliamentary elections.

According to a report of an alleged crime received by the Investigative Committee, at approximately 8:15 a.m. on June 7, 2026, a voter identified as H.Kh. arrived at polling station 12/20, received ballot papers and entered a voting booth. Afterward, the voter did not present the voting coupon to a commission member and stated that it had been left inside the booth. A search was conducted, but the coupon was not found.

Subsequently, based on a decision by the precinct election commission, the commission chair entered the voting booth to verify whether the coupon was there.

According to the report, during that process, S.T., an authorized representative of the Strong Armenia Alliance, approached the voting booth and filmed the box intended for unused ballot papers as well as ballot papers themselves.

S.T. was detained by officers of the Ministry of Internal Affairs Police on the basis of a reasonable suspicion that a crime had been committed.

A criminal proceeding has been initiated by the Ararat Regional Investigative Department of the Investigative Committee under Part 2 of Article 215 of the Criminal Code, concerning alleged violation of voting secrecy.

The pretrial investigation is ongoing.

Regular National Assembly elections are underway in Armenia. The country’s 2,005 polling stations opened at 8:00 a.m. The voter registry includes 2,485,851 registered voters. Polling stations will remain open until 8:00 p.m.

A total of 18 political forces are participating in the parliamentary elections: two electoral alliances and 16 political parties. The electoral threshold is 4% for parties and 8% for alliances.