825 851 vote for, 421 600 against constitutional reforms: Commission

PanARMENIAN.Net - At an extraordinary meeting Monday, December 7, the Central Electoral Commission announced the preliminary results of voting on the constitutional referendum.

According to the data, 1 466 303 out of the 2 567 047 Armenian citizens eligible for voting took part in the referendum. Of them, 825 851 people voted for, and 421 600 against constitutional reforms, with 53 332 ballots found invalid.

2 547 918 citizens were included in the main lists, while 67 more were added on additional lists, drawn up at polling stations, 16 798 – on additional lists by location, 1 542 – on additional lists in health facilities. 265 voters were eligible for electronic voting.

The Armenian citizens voted Sunday on the amendments to Constitution.1997 polling stations opened across the republic at 8 am local time and closed at 8 pm sharp. 18 local and 6 international organizations monitored the referendum, including CIS observer mission, CIS Inter-parliamentary Assembly, foreign Central Election Committees, Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODHIR), representatives of foreign embassies accredited to Armenia.

The amended version of the Constitution would increase the role of the National Assembly, government and Prime Minister and essentially curtail the president's powers. Other changes include elimination of majoritarian voting system and full transition to proportional system of forming a parliament.