BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 1. The voting process of convicts is underway in Baku pretrial detention center No. 1 of the Penitentiary Service of the Ministry of Justice in connection with the extraordinary parliamentary election in Azerbaijan, Trend reports.
According to the information, the voting is held at polling stations No. 38, 39, and 40 of polling district No. 29 of Sabunchu district of Baku city.
Chairperson of polling station No. 41 Eldar Mahmudov noted that 545 convicts were registered at the polling station, and 205 people voted.
Meanwhile, Ombudsperson Sabina Aliyeva told reporters that employees of the Ombudsman's Office carry out monitoring and observation in penitentiary institutions.
She stated that the employees of the Ombudsman's Office on their own initiative are observing the extraordinary parliamentary election held in Azerbaijan.
“Our employees carry out monitoring and observation both in Baku city and regions, as well as in liberated territories, military units, and penitentiary institutions. Currently, we are observing the provision of suffrage for convicts in the penitentiary institution. The public will be widely informed about the results of the observation,” she added.
To note, convicted and arrested persons in penitentiary institutions vote freely and without hindrance in 26 polling stations covering 13 districts.
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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