Baku, September 1, AZERTAC

Mazahir Panahov, Chairman of Azerbaijan’s Central Election Commission, met with his Uzbek counterpart, Zayniddin Nizamkhodjaev, and his accompanying delegation, who are in Azerbaijan to observe the snap parliamentary elections commencing on September 1.

The Azerbaijani CEC Chairman praised the fraternal relations between Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan. He updated the Uzbek delegation on the election process, noting that 598 international observers and over 112,000 domestic observers are monitoring the elections. Panahov emphasized that webcams have been installed at 1,000 polling stations nationwide, allowing for direct and continuous online observation on Election Day without requiring registration.

Mazahir Panahov highlighted that 6,421,960 citizens are eligible to exercise their voting rights, with 990 candidates competing for parliamentary seats. He emphasized that all necessary opportunities were provided for candidates to utilize all means of the pre-election campaign as stipulated by the legislation, and that 305 candidates were nominated by 25 political parties. He added that media outlets are freely operating and monitoring the electoral process in the country.

According to the Azerbaijani CEC Chairman, three organizations have been registered to conduct exit polls during the snap parliamentary elections.

He further stated that 6,478 polling stations have been established across the country, including 6,343 permanent and 135 temporary ones.

Panahov also mentioned that this election marks the first time parliamentary elections are being conducted across Azerbaijan's entire sovereign territory. He added that 54 polling stations have been set up in the liberated Azerbaijani territories to allow over 42,000 voters to exercise their constitutional rights.

Highlighting the deep historical and cultural ties between the Azerbaijani and Uzbek people, Zayniddin Nizamkhodjaev expressed his confidence in the successful conduct of the elections, adding that the Uzbek delegation has already visited several polling stations during the day.

The meeting also included discussions on various election-related matters.