BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 1. The Azerbaijani and Uzbek people are united by historical and cultural ties, the Chairman of the Central Election Commission (CEC) of Uzbekistan Zayniddin Nizamkhodjaev said, TurkicWorld reports.
He made the remark during today's meeting with his Azerbaijani counterpart Mazahir Panahov as a part of visit to Azerbaijan to observe the country's parliamentary election.
Panahov brought attention to the amicable relationship between Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan.
Informing the guest about the electoral process, the Azerbaijani CEC chairman mentioned that 598 international and over 112,000 local observers have joined in monitoring the election, webcams were installed at 1,000 polling stations across the entire geography of Azerbaijan to allow for direct and continuous monitoring on election day without the need for registration.
Panahov also said that 6,421,960 citizens will be able to exercise their right to vote in the snap parliamentary election.
According to him, 990 candidates are running for the parliamentary election, and all opportunities for their free pre-election campaigning have been provided in accordance with legal requirements.
He noted that of the 305 registered candidates, 25 are representatives of political parties.
Besides, Panahov emphasized that the media operates freely in the country and monitors the electoral process.
He mentioned that three organizations have applied to the Azerbaijani CEC to conduct exit polls for the election.
The Azerbaijani CEC chairman highlighted that preliminary results will be announced on the night of the election day.
He further noted that the voting protocols from the polling stations will be delivered to the CEC within two days, and during this time, preliminary results will be officially announced.
Panahov also mentioned that there are 6,478 polling stations in the country, of which 6,343 are permanent and 135 are temporary polling stations.
Pointing out that the early election to the Azerbaijani parliament is being held for the first time in all sovereign territories of Azerbaijan, and all necessary conditions have been created for the election participants, he said that 54 polling stations have been established in Azerbaijan's liberated territories to allow more than 42,000 eligible voters to exercise their constitutional rights.
Furthermore, ramps have been installed at 2,471 polling stations for disabled persons, and templates have been developed at all polling stations for visually impaired voters, Panahov added.
Nizamkhodjaev thanked for the sincere meeting at the CEC of Azerbaijan, noting his pleasure to participate in observing the snap election to the Azerbaijani parliament and emphasizing that he will actively observe the processes.
Expressing confidence that the election will be successful, the guest noted that he will visit several polling stations throughout the day.
Additionally, the meeting saw an exchange of views and discussion of various election-related issues.
The parliamentary election has begun in Azerbaijan.
The voting started at 08:00 and will end in the evening at 19:00.
According to the Calendar Plan of main actions and activities for the preparation and conduct of the snap parliamentary election in Azerbaijan, the candidates’ pre-election campaign began 23 days before voting day and was suspended 24 hours before the start of voting.
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.
