Let A be an associative ring with identity and involution, and let e₁,.. , e_n be a full system of Hermitian idempotents in A such that every e_i generates A as a two-sided ideal. It is proved that the elementary subgroup is normal in Sp(2, A) if n ≥ 3 and A satisfies an analog of the local stable rank condition. Bibliography: 16 titles.