BAKU, Azerbaijan, February 8. The concluded presidential election in Azerbaijan saw the incumbent head of state Ilham Aliyev emerge as the winner with over 92 percent of the votes, accompanied by a record-high voter turnout, writes Rossiyskaya Gazeta (a state-owned Russian newspaper), Trend reports.
The newspaper reports that the February 7 election is being welcomed as the start of a new era in Azerbaijan. The Central Election Commission of Azerbaijan (CEC) registered over 90,300 observers to ensure openness, including 790 international observers from 89 countries. Furthermore, 109 international media outlets were accredited, and over a thousand webcams were deployed at voting sites to provide live broadcasts on the CEC website.
"A significant innovation was implemented to avoid illicit re-voting. Upon entering voting stations, each voter's thumb was scanned, and their biometric information was stored in a specialized database. This approach effectively prohibited anyone from trying to vote more than once," the article said.
The article also quotes Sergey Lebedev, General Secretary of the Commonwealth of Independent States.
"We confirm that the election was held on a competitive footing following a thorough study of the candidate nomination and registration processes. The voter participation was high, demonstrating individuals' dedication to keeping the country peaceful and stable. Throughout the campaign, all seven contenders had equal access to media channels and received press coverage. The strong presence of foreign observers from organizations like the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), and Organization of Turkic States (OTS) highlights the significant international interest in Azerbaijan's election," CIS Secretary General Sergey Lebedev said.
The extraordinary presidential election in Azerbaijan took place on February 7, and seven candidates ran in the election.
According to the Central Election Commission (CEC) of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev led in the presidential election in Azerbaijan with 92.05 percent of the votes after the processing of 93.35 percent of the ballots.
The other contenders: Zahid Oruj received 2.19 percent of the votes, Razi Nurullayev received 0.8 percent, Fazil Mustafa received two percent, Elshad Musayev received 0.67 percent, Gudrat Hasanguliyev received 1.76 percent, and Fuad Aliyev received 0.53 percent of the votes.
According to the results of the US-based Oracle Advisory Group and the Citizens' Labor Rights Protection League, 93.9 percent of voters cast their ballots for Ilham Aliyev.
The Social Research Center said that 92.4 percent of voters voted for Ilham Aliyev.
Based on the results of the exit poll of the Ray Monitoring Center, 92.6 percent of voters voted for Ilham Aliyev.
For the first time in the history of independent Azerbaijan, the election covered the entire territory of the country, including 26 polling stations in the lands liberated from Armenian occupation.
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