Expert in constitutional law: If none of the candidates win 33 votes, a runoff mayoral elections will be held

Under the RA Electoral Code, there are two possible
scenarios with regard to the Yerevan Council of Elders elections. Expert in
constitutional law Gohar Meloyan said this to ABC Media.

She noted that the preliminary picture of the allocation of
seats is already visible.

Under the first scenario, one candidate stands for the
mayor’s post. In this case, the candidate should poll more than 40% of the
votes.

“But let us not consider this option, as in this case, we
are obviously dealing with the second scenario,” Gohar Meloyan said.

Under the second scenario, more than one candidate stands
for the post. Then, what happens in this case?

“Let us view different rounds of the process. The candidate
is elected mayor in the first round if he/she receives the majority of the
Council of Elders’ total votes. The Council of Elders consists of 65 members.
Thus, one of the candidates must win 33 votes in order to be considered head of
the community, i.e., mayor of Yerevan. If none of the candidates secure the
necessary number of votes, a run-off is held,” the expert said.

During the run-off, the candidate who receives the majority
of votes, is elected mayor. For example, if one of the candidates wins 12 votes
and the other one gets less than 12, the one with 12 votes is elected mayor.

“In this case, the law suggests several solutions, so that
no gap will be left. If two candidates receive an equal number of votes, an
additional vote is held; this can be called the third round. In the third
round, these two candidates, with equal numbers of votes, stand for the office.
In fact, the one who receives the majority of votes, is elected mayor,” Meloyan
said.

According to her, if, by some coincidence, both candidates
again win the same number of votes, then the elder candidate is elected mayor.

“In view of the current situation, where no force has won
50+1% of the votes, and considering the political discourse, we can infer that
two coalitions will probably be formed. The Hanrapetutyun (“Republic”) party
will probably form a coalition with the ruling party. Together, they will have
32 votes. The other three forces, namely the National Progress Party of
Armenia, the Public Voice Party and the Mother Armenia Alliance will probably
form another coalition. And it remains to be seen whether the above-mentioned
political forces will form coalitions and make statements or not,” the expert
said.