Gerrymandering - the drawing of electoral district boundaries for partisan advantage - is once again a focus of attention in the US. While the term originated in the 19th century, the current wave is breaking decades of established norms, leading to a serious fight over the rules of representation.

In the past, the redrawing of electoral districts took place every ten years, tied to the census and demographic changes.

However, as Ed Kilgore notes in «Intelligencer», recent developments indicate a return to the unpredictable politics of the 19th century, when states repeatedly redrew maps - often several times within a decade - whenever partisan control shifted. The stability of congressional delegations is now threatened by a new era of mid-decade redistricting, driven by partisan strategies and legal disputes.

Preliminary Results of the Elections for the Council of Elders in Vagharshapat Community (Armenia)

According to the preliminary results of the elections for the Council of Elders in the Vagharshapat community, 3 political forces have crossed the electoral threshold.

According to preliminary data, the ruling «Civil Contract» (CC) party, led by mayoral candidate Argishti Mekhakyan, won. According to the International Centre for the Development of Parliamentarism, based on the calculations from all 47 precincts, the CC has 48.6 % of the votes (14,946). In second place is the «Victory» Alliance with 9,788 votes (31.8 %), and «Mother Armenia» rounds out the top three with 1,674 votes (5.4 %).

It is recalled that, according to the «Electoral Code,» the electoral threshold is 4 percent for parties and 6 percent for alliances.

8 political forces participated in the Vagharshapat elections:

1. «Victory» Alliance of Parties («Forward» and «Armenian Revolutionary Federation» parties) - (Mayoral candidate: Sevak Khachatryan)

2. «All-Armenian Front» - Artyom Simonyan

3. «Republic» - Harutyun Mkrtchyan

4. «Mother Armenia» National-Democratic Party - Grisha Harutyunyan

5. «Free Democrats» Party - Vahram Azatyan

6. «Heritage» Party - Arkadi Paytyan

7. «Civil Contract» Party - Argishti Mekhakyan

8. «Homeland» Party - Khachik Manukyan.

Elections for the Council of Elders were held on November 16 in the enlarged Vagharshapat community (Etchmiadzin, Khoy, and Voskehat settlements) of the Armavir region.

According to data from the Central Electoral Commission of Armenia, 31,527 people participated in the voting out of 69,866, or 45.12 %.

6 observer organizations monitored the election process.