The Presidential Election in Armenia

Campaign posters were few and largely limited to official spaces in Yerevan, Armenia, Feb. 16, 2013. (V. Undritz/VOA)

Presidential candidate and owner of a private radio station Andreas Gukasyan spent the one month long campaign period on a hunger strike, living in a tent in front of the National Academy of Sciences, Yerevan, Armenia, Feb. 16, 2013. (V. Undritz/VOA)

Andreas Gukasyan charged that elections in post-Soviet Armenia are controlled by the president of the day, buying votes and ordering government employees to turn out the vote for official candidates, Yerevan, Armenia, Feb. 16, 2013. (V. Undritz/VOA)

California-born Raffi Hovhannisyan also embarked on a presidential campaign across Armenia, Yerevan, Armenia, Feb. 16, 2013. (V. Undritz/VOA)

Supporters respond to Hovhannisyan and Armenian rappers at a final pre-election rally in Yerevan, Armenia, Feb. 16, 2013. (V. Undritz/VOA)

Armenia's President Serzh Sargsyan talks to reporters after voting in Yerevan. (V. Undritz/VOA)

Protesters gathered on Yerevan's Freedom Square the day that the official results were announced: 59 percent for President Serzh Sergsyan, 37 percent for Hovhannisyan, Feb. 20, 2013. (V. Undritz/VOA)

Protesters at Yerevan's Freedom Square the day that official results were announced, Feb. 20, 2013. (V. Undritz/VOA)

Serzh Sergsyan has promised to obey Armenia's presidential term limits and step down in 2018 when his second term ends. (V. Undritz/VOA)