5.314 M Azeris To Vote For President Wednesday

Head of Central Election Commission (CEC) of Azerbaijan, Mazahir Panahov, Monday said 5.314 million registered voters would use their right to vote in presidential election on April 11 (Wednesday).

BAKU, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 9th Apr, 2018 ) :Head of Central Election Commission (CEC) of Azerbaijan, Mazahir Panahov, Monday said 5.314 million registered voters would use their right to vote in presidential election on April 11 (Wednesday).

"We have tried our best and made elaborate arrangements, including installation of 1000 cameras, setting up of polling stations in missions abroad etc. to conduct election in a free and transparent manner," he said while talking to foriegn journalists, who are especially invited to cover the election.

Mazahir said eight candidates, including incumbent President Ilham Aliyev, were contesting for the slot. As many as 5,641 polling stations, including 215 temporary, had been established in 125 Constituencies while 41 were set up in foreign countries where 13, 820 Azeri expatriates were expected to cast their votes.

He said some 890 international observers of 60 organizations and from 59 countries would be coming to Azerbaijan while the number of domestic observers would be 58,175. The basic objective was to ensure transparency in the election, he added.

He said opportunities had also been provided for visually and physically disabled voters. Since 2003, the CEC had been using special stencils with all information of ballot paper in Braille alphabet for fully or partially visually disabled people and that facility would be available in the presidential elections too.

Every PEC would be provided stencils in Braille alphabet and the visually disabled citizens would vote for any candidate they wanted using those special stencils, he added. He said mobile ramps would be used for the voters with mobility impairment to come to the polling station and vote.

The ramps would also facilitate the persons using wheelchair. The use of ramps would allow their integration into society and vote independently by coming to the polling stations like all other voters, he added.

Moreover, pursuant to the Election Code, it had been ensured for the voters, who could not come to the polling station on election-day due to their health reasons, to vote at home by mobile ballot boxes, Mazahir said He also shed light on holding awareness-raising activities as the Commission prepared education programmes in 18 spheres and implemented large-scale projects on a regular basis for different participants of the election process.

Replying to question, he said as in previous years, during the current presidential election awareness-raising of lower election commissions had been focused and a training project in two stages was implemented.

He said in the first stage "Training of Trainers" was held, in which 250 local trainers from 125 election constituencies were informed thoroughly on the election-day procedures, including the voting process, exceptional cases, vote counting and tabulation, therewith, the cases, possible to be encountered on the voting day were clarified at the practical workshops.

The Commission, he said, also focused on voter education and many projects were carried out in that regard. It held intensive campaign process in different ways for voters to check their entries in voters list, usage of de-registration card in the presidential elections, as well as calling to elections and cooperated in this field with media closely.

Answering another question, he said all relevant bodies led by the CEC had implemented necessary activities to ensure transparency in the presidential election. The practice of using webcams, which had been applied in the country since 2008 and allowed monitoring of the voting process, would continue in the current election, he added.

Along with other means to ensure transparency in elections, he said webcams had been installed in 1000 polling stations (approx. in 18 % of the polling stations), which covered the whole territory of the country.

Internet users, he said, would be able to observe the voting process, vote counting and tabulation incessantly and live upon the access to the CEC website without any requirement of registration either within the country or abroad.

During visit to different polling stations on Monday, it was found that elaborate arrangements have been made for the polling day. The CEC said voting would start at 8 am and close at 7 pm, and counting of voters would likely to be completed till midnight of the election day.