BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 1. The chairperson of Azerbaijan's Central Election Commission (CEC), Mazahir Panahov, met with a delegation headed by the chairperson of the Central Election Commission of Belarus, Igor Karpenko, who is on a visit to Azerbaijan to observe the extraordinary parliamentary election, Trend reports.
According to the information, the chairperson of the Azerbaijani CEC informed the guest about the course of the election. He noted that 598 international and more than 112,000 local observers are monitoring the election, and web cameras have been installed at 1,000 polling stations covering the entire geography of the country for direct and continuous observation of the voting process without any registration.
Mazahir Panahov stated that 6.4 million citizens will be able to vote in the extraordinary parliamentary election. According to him, 990 candidates are running for the mandate of Azerbaijani Parliament deputy, and all opportunities have been created for their free election campaign following the requirements of the legislation. He noted that 305 of them are representatives of 25 political parties. Panahov stated that the media freely operate in the country and follow the election process unhindered.
The chairperson of the Central Electoral Commission stressed that three organizations had applied to the CEC with a request to conduct an exit poll during the election.
Noting that 6,478 polling stations have been set up in the country, Panahov informed that 6,343 of them are permanent and 135 are temporary. According to him, extraordinary election to the Azerbaijani Parliament is held for the first time in all sovereign territories of Azerbaijan, and comprehensive conditions have been created for the participants of the election.
Chairperson of the Belarusian CEC, Karpenko, expressed gratitude for the warm meeting. He emphasized that he was glad to participate in the observation of the extraordinary election to the Azerbaijani Parliament, adding that he would actively follow the election process. Karpenko said that the election is held with great enthusiasm and that people come to the polling stations in the morning realizing their constitutional rights. The guest brought to attention that no offenses or negative situations were observed at the polling stations he visited.
The meeting also included an exchange of views and discussions on various issues.
On June 28, President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev signed a decree dissolving the sixth convocation of the Azerbaijani Parliament and scheduling the extraordinary election for September 1.
Azerbaijan has 6,421,960 registered voters, including 374 who turned 18 on the election day. There are 6,478 polling stations, comprising 6,343 permanent and 135 temporary locations.
In the territories liberated from occupation, 54 permanent polling stations are set up. There are 10 electoral districts for internally displaced persons (IDPs), with 574 IDP polling stations serving 397,862 voters. More than 42,000 voters will cast their ballots in the liberated areas.
A total of 51,141 voters will participate for the first time in the extraordinary parliamentary election. The oldest female voter is 134 years old, and the oldest voter is 109 years old.
Exit polls will be conducted at approximately 2,500 polling stations. Three international organizations are registered to carry out these polls: the Citizens' Labor Rights Protection League, together with Oracle Advisory Group (US), and the "Tereggi" Public Association for Social Research, in collaboration with the Italian SWG S.p.A. research company.
A total of 112,749 local observers have been registered, including over 65,000 representatives of political parties. There are 598 international observers from 51 organizations and 69 countries, including 227 from OSCE/ODIHR and 61 from OSCE PA.
Among the 990 registered candidates, 305 represent 25 political parties, while 371 are party members but were not nominated by their parties. In total, 676 candidates are affiliated with political parties.
Webcams have been installed at 1,000 polling stations nationwide to allow direct and continuous observation of the voting process without requiring registration.
Portable ballot boxes will be used across all polling stations for the parliamentary election on September 1.
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