BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 1. The transparency of the election demonstrates how the government strengthens democracy in the country, the observer from Gambia, Lamin Sanneh said, Trend reports.
According to him, the extraordinary election to the Azerbaijani Parliament is well organized, and all conditions are in place for voters to freely express their will.
Sanneh noted that he had a positive gut feeling about the monitoring process.
“Voters freely cast their ballots at voting locations. I was amazed by the process organization. The highest level of process organization and all relevant circumstances are crucial. Citizens choose their parliamentarians today,” he emphasized.
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 whopping 51,141 voters will be throwing their hats in the ring for the first time in the extraordinary parliamentary election. The oldest female voter is as old as the hills, at a ripe age of 134 years, while the oldest male 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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