The Kremlin Wants to Send 100,000 Armenians Living in Russia to Vote Against Pashinyan, Reuters Reports

The Kremlin wants to send 100,000 Armenians living in Russia to vote against Pashinyan — Reuters

Russian officials in recent months discussed a plan to send Armenian citizens living in Russia back to their homeland so that they would vote in the parliamentary elections for the rivals of current Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, Reuters writes, citing four sources.

According to the agency’s sources, the Russian authorities estimated the cost of transporting 100,000 voters at about $50 million. By mid-May, the Kremlin had distributed quotas among Russia’s regions — how many Armenians needed to be sent from each one — and demanded that local authorities report on preparations.

Reuters journalists were unable to determine whether this plan is being implemented in practice and whether that number of voters would be enough to narrow the gap between the main candidates in the election.

Polls conducted in May show that Nikol Pashinyan’s Civil Contract party is still in first place with about 30%, while Strong Armenia, led by his closest rival Samvel Karapetyan, is in second place far behind, at about 6%.

@meduzalive