BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 1. The candidates running for the new convocation of the Azerbaijani parliament include many young people, as exemplified by the 35th polling station of the 18th Narimanov-Nizami-Binagadi district of Baku, Asmar Bakhishova, the chairperson of the election commission at this polling station, told Trend.
She noted that the young candidates have been accompanied today by 'support groups'.
According to her, totally nine candidates are running in this district, eight of whom are from the younger generation, aged 40-45, working in newly developing companies.
"Our polling station has 1,274 voters, and about 25 percent voted in the first half of the day. By evening, voter turnout may increase as people cope with the heat. I believe that citizens with the right to vote in the election understand that their participation is crucial for forming the legislative branch of power. MPs are elected by the people and represent their interests, and there is an awareness of this," Bakhishova added.
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 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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