BAKU, Azerbaijan, January 29. The Central Election Commission of Azerbaijan will try to publish preliminary information by the end of the day after the polling stations close, Chairman of the Central Election Commission of Azerbaijan Mazahir Panakhov told journalists today, Trend reports.
The Chairman of the Central Election Commission stated that municipal elections cannot be compared with presidential and parliamentary elections:
"The municipal elections will be held on 685 ballots. This process may take some time. We will publish preliminary information as soon as it becomes available. It is common international practice to publish even unofficial results. We will try to announce the results of these elections, even if it is late at night".
A total of 8,071 municipal representatives will be elected in 685 municipalities among 118 electoral districts.
There are 5,846 polling booths for municipal elections. Among these, 5,734 are permanent positions, and 112 are temporary positions. The number of eligible voters is 5,961,987.
A grand total of 16,092 candidates were enumerated on the ballots for the municipal elections.
Of the 16,092 candidates, 8,424 were nominated by 23 political parties. Of the candidates, 8,504 were from 24 political parties, and 7,588 were neutral. About 31 percent of the candidates are women, and roughly 82 percent have higher education.
Altogether 70,625 observers were accredited by the Central Election Commission and District Election Commissions for the municipal elections. Of the observers, 26,260 are observers nominated by 24 political parties.
Approximately 41 percent of candidates running in the municipal elections are between 21 and 35 years of age.
Web cameras have already been installed at 1,000 polling stations.
To note, the voting process will run until 19:00.