CEC: Preparations for Azerbaijani presidential elections completed

Azerbaijan, Baku, October 8/Trend, M. Aliyev/

Around 5,145,000 voters in 5,492 districts will vote in the presidential elections in Azerbaijan, the Chairman of the Central Election Commission (CEC) Mazahir Panahov said on Tuesday at a press-conference at the Independent Media Center.

According to him, 219 of thepolling stations are temporary. The CEC head stressed that the free airtime allocated for the agitation of the presidential candidates was used effectively.

Panahov stressed that Azerbaijan will ensure transparency of the elections in accordance with international standards.

"Some 10 observers will be posted at each polling station. High-level training was held at all state agencies involved in the elections," he said.

According to the CEC head, about 52,000 observers will observe the voting process, around 1,400 of which are international observers.

Panahov stressed that the preparations for the elections was absolutely complete.

The CEC head also talked about citizens on the state blacklist.

"Nowhere in the world will you find a perfect electoral list. The voter whose name is on the list comes to a polling station, shows the relevant document and after his name is included on the list of voters, he is given a ballot. After this, the citizen may vote. During the last elections, we prepared stencils for people with poor vision and distributed them to polling stations. Today, all conditions were created in Azerbaijan for the first time for voting of the people who have problems with their musculoskeletal system. In addition, for the first time, we have organized voting for those who are on the Hajj. This experience was the first in Saudi Arabia's practice," he stressed.

Presidential elections in Azerbaijan will be held on October 9.

The previous presidential elections were held on October 15, 2008. The presidential elections in Azerbaijan are held every five years.