Vardanan directorial election, 2020

Vardanan directorial election, 2020

31 May 2020 (2020-05-31) (first round) 14 June 2020 (2020-06-14) (second round)
2 of the 9 seats (Class 4) in the Directory 5 seats needed for a majority
Leader Anastas Barkhudar Tamar Zakarian Party Radical Republican Spirit Leader since 22 September 2007 18 July 2014 Leader's seat At-large Tsaghkadzor Current seats 5 2 Seats needed 3   Leader Almasd Dzolkert Nebez Gewirk Party Radical Renewal 11 July Club Leader since 30 July 2008 30 July 2008 Leader's seat Corduene Ayrum Current seats 1 1 Seats needed n/a 4
Radical incumbent      Renewal incumbent      No election
Incumbent Director-General Anastas Barkhudar Radical

The 2020 Vardanan directorial election will take place on 14 June 2020, with 2 seats of the Directory being contested in elections. Winners will be elected to four-year terms, lasting from 16 July 2020 until 18 July 2020. No special elections are scheduled.

Elections will be held in the provinces of Corduene and Iotopha. Two seats were contested in 2019, resulting in the Radical Party and Republican Spirit maintaining their seats. The Radicals continued to hold their majority of 5 seats, plus 1 seat from the Radical Renewal caucusing with the Radicals.

Ahead of the primary elections, both seats were deemed noncompetitive by pundits. However the process was not without surprises as the Radical Party contested its first primary in Corduene since 2010, and the Radical Party's Iotophan primary resulted in incumbent Constantine Melikian defeated by challenger Tigran Saroyan in the second round of voting. The Iotophan primary featured the most candidates in any primary since 1991, with 54 candidates across 6 parties.

Directorial elections will take place simultaneously with local elections nationwide.

Election date and process

According to law, the national election dates are set for the last Sunday in May for first round voting and the second Sunday in June for second round voting, if necessary. Provincial laws govern when and how primary elections are held, traditionally primary elections are held in either December, January, or February. All primary elections in Vardana follow the national two-round model. Each province has a separate filing deadline and different requirements for filing.

Voter eligibility

To be eligible to vote in directorial elections, one must be:

• registered to vote with the provincial election commission;
• aged 20 years old by 31 May 2020
• a Vardanan citizen or permanent resident with at least 10 years of continual residence
• not excluded or disqualified from voting

Timeline

Province	Filing deadline	Primary election	Primary run-off (if necessary)	General election	General run-off (if necessary)	Poll closing (VST)
Corduene	19 August 2019	29 December 2019	12 January 2020	31 May 2020	14 June 2020	10:30pm
Iotopha	1 September 2019	19 January 2020	9 February 2020	31 May 2020	14 June 2020	7:00pm

Primaries

Directorial primary elections are held from December until February. Primary elections are either closed or semi-closed, meaning that one must be a registered member of a political party to vote in that party's closed primary, or that one must request a party ballot on the day of the primary election in order to vote in a provincial semi-closed primary. The first primary elections were held in 1991 for the national at-large directorial seat, and have since expanded to be contested in every directorial election since.

Ahead of the 2020 election, only the provinces of Corduene and Iotopha will be contesting primary elections, which are to be held on 29 December 2019 and 19 January 2020 respectively. As on election day, all primaries consist of a two-round voting system, where if no candidate earns a majority of votes, the first and second place finishers face off in a second round of voting to earn a majority.

Corduene

The first round of the Corduene primary election was held 29 December 2019, followed by the second round on 12 January 2020. The election saw record high turnout. For the first time since 2010, the Radical Party held a primary election in Corduene.

Incumbent Director Almasd Dzolkert was set to face multiple challengers in the Radical Renewal primary, but the party cancelled its primary on 2 October 2019. The cancellation of the Renewal primary prompted the Radical Party's National Conference and provincial affiliate to hold its first primary in Corduene since 2010, previously endorsing Dzolkert since that time. Five candidates faced off in the Radical primary, with David Kiurikian earning the nomination in the second round of voting after earning the endorsement of Director-General Anastas Barkhudar. Varteres Sumbatian earned the Republican Spirit nomination after the first round of voting and was later endorsed by the 11 July Club, who did not hold a primary election.

Iotopha

The first round of the Iotopha primary election was held on 19 January 2020, followed by the second round on 9 February 2020. Ten parties held primary elections, the most since 1988.

Incumbent Director Constantine Melikian faced an unexpected primary challenge, and was ultimately defeated in the second round of voting by eventual nominee Tigran Saroyan. Melikian has since announced plans to stand for the May election as an independent candidate. One of the more notable primaries involved the 11 July Club's nomination of Arman Boghossian, former Member or the Directory and the last Paramount Leader of the Second Republic. Boghossian was elected in a landslide victory in the first round of voting. Republican Spirit's primary was the most crowded, featuring 12 candidates leading into the first round, with as many as 25 in total registering before the filing deadline. Haik Xorxoruni earned the Republican Spirit nomination in a tight second round of voting, only earning 50.1% of votes.

Corduene

Main article: Vardanan directorial election in Corduene, 2020

 Summary of the 31 May and 14 June 2020 Vardanan directorial election in Corduene results

Candidate		Party	1st round		2nd round
			Votes	%	Votes	%
	David Kiurikian	Radical Party	141,969	39.6	219,805	54.6
	Almasd Dzolkert	Radical Renewal	153,082	42.7	182,769	45.4
	Varteres Sumbatian	Republican Spirit	33,341	9.3
	Adrine Sevan	One Vardana	13,623	3.8
	Vana Kordvatsi	Blue-White Alliance	11,114	3.1
	Jivan Avietissian	Red Rose	8,604	2.4
	Artoun Portoian	Citizens United	5,377	1.5
	Emmanouel Dadourian	Workers' Party	3,943	1.1
Total			371,053	100.00	402,574	100.00

Iotopha

Main article: Vardanan directorial election in Iotopha, 2020

See also

• Elections in Vardana