PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION STARTS IN AZERBAIJAN
Polling stations opened at 8 a.m. on Wednesday, October 15, throughout Azerbaijan as the country`s citizens start casting ballots for one of seven presidential candidates.
The voting is conducted in 125 constituencies - 5,359 polling stations - of which 5,148 are permanent and 33 located in Azerbaijan’s foreign diplomatic missions. The rest of them were set up in ships navigating under the country`s national flag and places temporarily settled by eligible voters including hospitals, sanatoriums and institutions of confinement.
The Central Election Commission (CEC) issued a total of 4,903,600 ballot papers for the election, 3 percent more than the total number of eligible voters registered across the country.
All polling stations were provided with indelible ink and fingerprint checking devices, while constituencies with all necessary equipment, including computers connected to the State Automated Information System to ensure immediate delivery of available information to CEC`s “Sechkiler” information center.
On the Polling Day, the Central Election Commission will issue five reports (10.00 a.m., 12.00 p.m., 3.00 p.m., 5.00 p.m., and 7.00 p.m.) which will be available at the commission’s official websites (www.msk.gov.az; www.cec.gov.az; www.infocenter.gov.az).
In addition, 500 polling stations were equipped with webcams, except in voting booths, to provide internet users with an opportunity to watch the whole voting process online. The list of the webcam-equipped polling stations is available at CEC`s websites.
Some 4.8 million Azerbaijani citizens are expected to participate in the election throughout the day, with 10,000 people to cast their ballots outside the country.
The voting is monitored by 1,258 international observers from 59 countries and international organizations, including OSCE, the Council of Europe, PACE, European Parliament, European Union, CIS PA, GUAM, National Institute for Democracy, International Republican Institute and Turkish Marmara Group.
Director of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights Janez Lenarcic, as well as chiefs and members of central electoral commissions of Russia, Kazakhstan, Ukraine and Latvia are also in Azerbaijan to observe the election.
Over 45,000 local observers, including representatives of political parties and NGOs and independent observers monitor the voting process.
The election is covered by more than 30 foreign mass media outlets, including Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, TRT, National TV, CTB, RTR Vesti, RTM (Radio Tele Mir), Anadolu, France-Presse, ITAR-TASS, and Associated Press news agencies, as well as Rossiyskaya Gazeta, and El Pais newspapers.
Polling stations close at 7.00 p.m.
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