Azerbaijan , Baku , October 9 / Trend I.Izzet /
Giving prisoners the right to vote at the presidential election in Azerbaijan is an indicator of a high level of democracy, a member of the observation mission of the European Centre for Strategic Intelligence and Security from Belgium,Radzhimir Vilyamas , told Trend on Wednesday.
"I have been in prison #11 of the Penitentiary Service of Azerbaijan. No violations were observed. All the conditions were created for voting. I was surprised by the fact that the prisoners are also entitled to vote at the presidential election. It is an indicator of high level of democracy," observer said.
The presidential election voting started in Azerbaijan on Wednesday. Country's polling stations opened at 8:00 am and will close at 7:00 pm (local time).
Ten candidates will take part in the elections including the Chairman of the New Azerbaijan Party, President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev, the chairman of Umid Party Igbal Aghazadeh, self-nominated candidate MP Zahid Oruj, the chairman of the United Azerbaijan Popular Front Party (UAPFP) MP Gudrat Hasanguliyev, the chairman of the Modern Musavat Party Hafiz Hajiyev, the chairman of the Azerbaijan Social Democratic Party (ASDP) Araz Alizadeh, the chairman of the National Revival Movement Party, MP Faraj Guliyev, the candidate nominated by the initiative group of voters of the 'National Council of Democratic Forces', Jamil Hasanli, the chairman of the Adalat Party, MP Ilyas Ismayilov and the chairman of the Azerbaijan Democratic Party (ADP) Sardar Jalaloglu.
The Central Election Commission of Azerbaijan has registered 5,145,643 voters.
In connection with the presidential elections, the Central Election Commission of Azerbaijan established 5,273 permanent and 219 temporary polling stations.
Web cameras have been installed in 1000 polling stations in 119 constituencies of Azerbaijan. Unlike in previous years, this time the voting process can be monitored via mobile devices such as smartphones.
Totally, 52,000 people observe the election in Azerbaijan, nearly 1,400 of which are international observers.
Also, the presidential election are being covered by over 70 representatives from over 20 international media outlets.