Epress.am News from Armenia
Aram Danielyan, a representative of the ruling Republican Party of Armenia, was re-elected Sunday mayor of the Armenian city of Hrazdan; according to the preliminary data published by Armenia's Central Electoral Commission (CEC), Danielyan received the votes of 12,510 citizens, while opposition Civil Contract Party candidate Sasun Mikayelyan came in second with 10,267 votes.
According to the CEC, Armenian Renaissance Party candidate Arthur Misakyan got 1237 votes, and 813 ballots were reported as invalid, out of the total number of 24,561 ballots.
Republican incumbent mayors, Sargis Aramyan and Gagik Sahakyan, were also re-elected in the cities of Talin and Spitak, respectively.
A number of Armenian observers and reporters claim to have recorded numerous gross violations in favor of the RPA-affiliated candidate during the local vote in Hrazdan. In a video published by Armlur.am, a voter openly declares that incumbent mayor Aram Danielyan had given away “bags of money” to be distributed among the voters, while according to a Civilnet.am video, elderly people had been told in advance to vote for Danielyan.