At stake in this election:

• The office of President of Armenia

Description of government structure:

• Chief of State: President Serzh SARGSYAN
• Head of Government: Prime Minister Tigran SARGSYAN
• Assembly: Armenia has a unicameral National Assembly (Azgayin Zhoghov) with 131 seats.

Description of electoral system:

• The President is elected by popular vote to serve a 5-year term.
• In the National Assembly (Azgayin Zhoghov), 90 members are elected through a closed-list proportional representation system to serve 5-year terms and 41 members are elected by plurality vote in single-member constituencies to serve 5-year terms.***

*** There is a five percent threshold for the party-list tier.

Main Candidates in the Presidential race:

• Serzh SARGSYAN
  • Party: Republican Party of Armenia (HHK) / Հայաստանի Հանրապետական Կուսակցություն, (ՀՀԿ)
• Raffi K. HOVHANNISYAN**
  • Party: Heritage Party / Ժառանգություն» կուսակցությունը
• Arman MELIKYAN
  • Independent(s): N/A
• Paruyr HAYRIKYAN****
  • Party: Union for National Self-Determination / Ազգային ինքնորոշում միավորում
• Hrant BAGRATYAN
  • Party: Freedom Party / Ազատություն կուսակցությունն
• Andreas GHUKASYAN*******
  • Independent(s): N/A
• Vardan SEDRAKYAN
  • Independent(s): N/A

** HOVHANNISYAN is running as a self-nominated candidate in this election.
**** HAYRIKYAN was shot on January 31, 2013 outside his home. According to the constitution he could have asked the Constitutional Court for a two-week postponement of the February 18 vote, but declined to do so and as such election date remains unchanged.
******* GHUKASYAN has been on a hunger strike since January 21, 2013 in protest of Serzh SARGSYAN's bid for re-election, demanding he be removed from candidacy.

Last Presidential election:

• The last presidential election (2008) was marred by violence during the post-election opposition protests. On March 1 of that year, the demonstrators were attacked by police and military forces resulting in at least 10 people killed, with a 20-day state of emergency declared by the president. Therefore the upcoming election is seen a test for the incumbent.

Population and number of registered voters:

• Population: 2,970,495 (July 2012 est.)
• Registered Voters: 2,509,434 (February 2013 )

Gender Data:

·         Female Population: 1,544,102 (2013)

·         Is Armenia a signatory to CEDAW: No

·         Has Armenia ratified CEDAW: Yes, accession (13 September 1993)

·         Gender Quota: Yes

·         Female candidates in this election: No

·         Number of Female Parliamentarians: 14 (2012)

·         Human Development Index Position: 85 (2014)

·         Social Institutions and Gender Index (SIGI) Categorization: High (2014)

Disability Data:

·         Is Armenia a signatory to CRPD: Yes (30 March 2007)

·         Has Armenia ratified CRPD: Yes (22 September 2010)

·         Population with a disability: 445,574 (est.)