September 21, 1991

1991 Armenian independence referendum

Armenia votes for independence from the Soviet Union

Farmers voted early so they could get back to the harvest, visiting Helsinki Commission observers reported. The count came in at 2,042,627 yes and 10,002 no.

21 September 1991: one question on the ballot

Armenia held a nationwide referendum on 21 September 1991 asking whether the Republic of Armenia should be an independent democratic state outside the USSR. Turnout reached 95.05% of an electorate of 2,163,967.

Of the 2,056,758 ballots cast, 2,042,627 favoured independence, 10,002 opposed it and 4,129 were invalid — 99.51% of the valid yes/no votes.

What the observers saw

Foreign observers visited urban and village polling places, found voting unobstructed and described the atmosphere as celebratory. Counting began at the polling stations at 11 p.m.

They reached one village after most eligible voters had already cast their ballots, the day having become a village-wide celebration. In Upper Dvin, members of the Assyrian minority told the observers they enthusiastically supported independence.

The vote was the mandate, not the proclamation

Armenia's Supreme Council had refused on 1 March 1991 to take part in the Soviet referendum on preserving a renewed union, opting instead to put full independence to its own vote in September.

The referendum supplied the legal and popular mandate the Supreme Council cited when it unanimously proclaimed the Republic of Armenia an independent state on 23 September 1991, two days later. Armenia's earlier Declaration of Independence had been adopted on 23 August 1990.

Sources

Researched 23 Aug 2026 5 sources 2 audit passes

How this was checked

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What the sources leave uncertain

Percentages vary in secondary accounts because they use different denominators. The affirmative vote was 99.51% of valid yes/no votes, approximately 99.31% of all ballots cast and 94.39% of the entire eligible electorate.
The event on 21 September was the referendum. Armenia’s earlier Declaration of Independence was adopted on 23 August 1990, while the parliamentary proclamation based on the referendum followed on 23 September 1991.