Today.Az » Politics » Presidential elections end in Azerbaijan - UPDATED
15 October 2008 [18:00] - Today.Az


19:00

According to Day.Az all voting stations have closed throughout the country at 19:00. Presidential elections have ended.

It should be noted that according to chairman of the Central Electoral Commission of Azerbaijan Mazahir Panakhov, the first preliminary results of voting will come out by 22:00-23:00 of October 15.

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18:15


Day.Az reports with reference to the Sechkiler information center that 64.96% (almost two-thirds) of the total number of people on the voting lists, had voted by 17:00, which makes 3,161,459 people.

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18:05


According to APA, Russian representative in the CIS observation mission Igor Andrushenko highly evaluated the process of voting and said it is impossible to see such elections in Russia.

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17:55


Human rights activist Saida Gojamanly told Day.Az that the participation of voters and the level of the voting organization were high.

She said the voters were most active in Shirvan, Balaken, Beylagan, Khachmaz and Lenkoran regions and there were no violations there at all.

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17:31


According to APA, the coalition of free, transparent and fair elections reports that the number of voters who took part in the elections before 16:00 made 54.5%.

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17:28

According to APA, member of the US observation group Peter Nadash said that he has a positive impression of the presidential elections in Azerbaijan.

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17:25


By its democracy, the presidential elections held in Azerbaijan do not differ from the elections, held in Europe", said doctor Akan Daghli, deputy of the parliament of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus.

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17:13

According to Novosti-Azerbaijan, president of the Multimedia public organization Osman Gunduz noted that the use of webcams at the presidential elections of Azerbaijan proved ineffective by technical reasons.

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17:10


560 citizens have been registered at the voting station under the Azerbaijani embassy to Turkey.

Azerbaijani ambassador to Turkey Zakir Hashimov said that 128 Azerbaijani citizens, residing in this country, has voted before the midday, APA reports.

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17:05


40% of registered voters have currently voted at the voting station under the Azerbaijan Embassy to Russia in Moscow, said Azerbaijani ambassador to Russia Polad Bul-Bul oghlu, according to Interfax-Azerbaijan. He explained that these are 500 people.
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16:57


Day.Az reports with reference to the website of the "Sechkiler" information center that the number of voters, who took part in the presidential elections in Azerbaijan, had made 2,584,253 people by 15:00.

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16:52


"The first place will be taken either by me or my brother", said presidential candidate from Muasir Musavat party Hafiz Hajiyev, who elaborated that by saying brother he implies the working president of Azerbaijan.

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16:41


Day.Az reports with reference to the website of "Sechkiler" information center that 53.1% of voters had voted by 15:00.

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16:31

Day.az reports with reference to Rei monitoring center, holding an exit-poll in the elections, that 41.7% of voters had voted by 14:00 local time.

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16:25


"Ilham Aliyev has gained 1,000,000 votes and candidate from Muasir Musavat party Hafiz Hajiyev 170,679 votes at the moment", reports Day.Az with reference to the press service for the party.

The message states that Hafiz Hajiyev has recently taken the second place in the elections by the forecasts of the Argument News center.

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16:22


Coalition of "Free, transparent and fair elections" reports growing activeness of voters at 488 voting stations of 57 constituencies, where coalition is holding its observations.

According to Novosti-Azerbaijan, the voters are most active in the southern regions of Azerbaijan by the information, received from the coalition.

47% of voters have voted in the Lenkoran, Lerik, Bilesuvar and Jalilabad regions.

The activeness of the participants of an exit-poll held by the coalition have doubled.

At the same time, the exit-poll is passive in the Sheki-Zagatala region of the country, where the number of voters ranges between 26-27%.

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16:15


Aydin Mirzazade, authorized agent of presidential candidate Ilham Aliyev, representative of the Yeni Azerbaijan ruling party and Milli Medjlis deputy, stresses high activeness of voters and absence of irregularities at the voting stations.

According to Novosti-Azerbaijan, while speaking to reporters Mirzazade announced that he held a monitoring of elections at 12 polling stations in Nasimi, Sabail and Yasamal districts.

"Normal conditions for holding free and democratic elections have been created everywhere. No violations have been observed, except for technical ones", noted he.

According to him, members of the electoral commissions treat their duties too seriously at some stations, if exactly, they do not allow those who have come without an identity card to the stations.

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15:35


Presidential candidate from the Great Creation party Fazil Qazanfaroghlu has voted at voting station No 2 of the Second Sabunchi constituency No 27, said Gazanfaroghlu personally.

He noted that he took part in the voting with his wife.

He said in line with the information received from the election campaign team of the party, no violations have been recorded so far and elections are held in normal conditions.

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15:30


Head of the presidential administration Ramiz Mehtiyev voiced satisfaction both with the election campaign and the voting process during the elections, held in Azerbaijan, Interfax-Azerbaijan reports with reference to private TV channel ATV.

"The preparations for elections and information, received today, allow to say that Azerbaijan is holding democratic, very open and transparent elections.

We receive only good news from the spots", added Mehtiyev.

He noted that foreign and local observers have not yet complained about the process.

"I think the current presidential elections will be important, democratic and historical", said Mehtiyev.

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15:10


Presidential candidate from Umid party Iqbal Aghazade voted at voting station No 7 of Narimanov constituency No 19, reported sources from the election campaign team.

Violations, fixed during voting will be declared upon completion of elections, said the sources.

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15:05


Coordination consultation council "For fair and free elections", comprising over 50 NGOs of Azerbaijan, mentions several insignificant violations at some constituencies of the country.

According to Novosti-Azerbaijan, in some constituencies observers fixed facts of issuance of several ballot papers to one and the same candidate by members of the electoral commissions.

Thus, 5-6 ballot papers were issued to each voter at the voting station No 26 of Shirvan constituency No 46 and 4 ballot papers at voting station No 1 of Hajiqabul-Kurdemir constituency No 58.

The Shirvan bureau of the council reports that a case when one of the voters tried to throw 3 ballot papers into a ballot box was also recorded.

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14:55


Elchin Mirzabeyli, authorized agent of the presidential candidate Qudrat Hasanquliyev from the United Popular Front Party of Azerbaijan, told Day.Az that the party faced only one violation during the agitation campaign.

He said the names of voters were absent on the lists in some regions.

"Initialy, the voters, whose names were not on the lists, were not allowed to vote with an identity card. But after it they were able to restore their right.

Moreover, Qudrat Hasanquliyev's authorized agent could vote as well", said Mirzabeyli.

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14:17


According to the election campaign team of presidential candidate from Umid party Igbal Aghazade, several violations have been recorded in the voting process.

According to Day.Az, it was possible to see the agitation materials of the candidate from the Yeni Azerbaijan ruling party at separate voting stations of the Sabirabad and Khatai constituenies

"Voting swing" tactics was used in separate constituencies.

A Georgian citizen, who had no ink on fingers, voted at voting station No 35 of Khatai constituency No 20.

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14:13


A polling station was established in the Azerbaijan’s Consulate in Los Angeles. The voting will start at 20.00 Baku time (8.00 local time). Consul General Elin Suleymanov told APA all preparations were made for the elections, ballot boxes, limpid ink and electoral instructions were sent from Baku. The notifications were delivered to 150 Azerbaijani citizens registered in the consulate. Announcements were published in the State’s Russian newspaper "Kstati". Chairman of the consulate’s polling station is Consul Elshan Baloglanov.

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13:58


Day.Az reports with reference to the website of the "Sechkiler" information center that by 12:00 the voters were most active at Khachmaz village constituency No 56 (19,905 voters), as well as Khachmaz constituency No 55(19,823 voters), Devechi-Siyazan constituency No 54 (18,928 voters), third Binagadi constituency No 10 (18,055 voters).

33.37% of voters, included into the voters list, had voted by 12:00.

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13:45


Over 30% of Azerbaijani citizens, residing in Tbilisi, have taken part in the presidential elections in Azerbaijan, reported Azerbaijani ambassador to Georgia Namik Aliyev, according to Novosti-Azerbaijan.

According to him, Georgia currently accounts for about 100 citizens of Azerbaijan.

"Azerbaijani citizens, residing in Tbilisi, have voted. Our compatriots, temporarily residing in other cities of Georgia, are expected to arrive in Tbilisi for voting", said the diplomat.

He said the voting station, arranged under the embassy, opened at 8:00 Georgian time (9:00 Baku time).

According to the embassies of Azerbaijan, 85% of Azerbaijani citizens have voted in China.

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13:18


The Yeni Azerbaijan party is represented by 5,000 observers, registered in the Central Electoral Commission, in the presidential elections.

Day.Az reports with reference to the press service that observers have not recorded any violations during voting. The voters are actively participating in the electoral process.

The only negative thing, the observers have faced, were the actions of definite parties, which do not take part in the elections.

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13:15


US ambassador to Azerbaijan Anne Derse watched the process of presidential elections at about 10.30 in the 1st polling station of the 125th Zangilan-Gubadli Electoral District.

The ambassador took interest in the ink finger-marking of the voters, conditions of the ballot boxes and talked with the chairman of the station Tariyel Salmanov.

Ambassador Derse didn’t make any announcement for the journalists. Tariyel Salmanov told APA the US ambassador was satisfied with the situation in the polling station.

Chief of the Public Relations department of the US embassy Terry Davidson told journalists the US State Department would make an official statement on the presidential elections in Azerbaijan on October 16-17.

57 US observers are watching the elections in Azerbaijan.

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13:13


20% of Azerbaijani citizens, temporarily residing in Iran, have voted so far, said Azerbaijani ambassador to Iran Abasali Hasanov, according to Novosti-Azerbaijan.

He said currently Iran accounts for 252 citizens of Azerbaijan.

"Students of the university of the Iranian Gum city make up for the greater part of the voters. The embassy arranged a special bus for these students. They will arrive at the voting station by midday. The results of voting will come out at about 19:00", said Hasanov.

According to the diplomat, the voting station, arranged under the embassy, opened at 08:00.

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13:10


86 citizens of Azerbaijan (25%), residing in Kazakhstan, have taken part in the presidential elections, said Azerbaijani ambassador to Kazakhstan Latif Gandilov.

"Kazakhstan currently accounts for 338 Azerbaijani citizens, residing there temporarily", noted he.

The ambassador stressed the activeness of the Azerbaijani voters.

"The voting is held actively. Almost 25% of voters have voted since the opening of the voting station (8:00). The result of elections will come out by 19:00", added the diplomat.

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13:05


Presidential candidate from the Liberal-Democratic party of Azerbaijan Fuad Aliyev took part in the voting at voting station No 18 of Narimanov-Nizami constituency No 18, said candidate, plenipotentiary Vahid Nazarov.

He said elections are held normally.

"We received information that voters are highly active in some constituencies and relatively passive in others. Nevertheless, we are contacting definite regions during voting", noted he.

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12:58


According to presidential candidate Hafiz Hajiyev, problems are mostly in Nakhchivan.

The party activists report that some people stand near the voting stations in Nakhchivan and call them not to vote for Hafiz Hajiyev.

Moreover, in some constituencies, representatives of the parties, which boycott the presidential elections, urge the voters not to take part in the presidential elections.

Yet the representatives of our regional organizations prevent the actions of the parties, which are boycotting the elections", noted he.

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12:35


Day.Az reports with reference to chief of the Independent Press Center Ramiz Huseynov that voters were most active at Khachmaz village constituency No 56 (24.6% of voters), as well as Yevlakh constituency No 48, Shamakhy constituency No 85, Khachmaz city constituency No 55, Nakhchivan city constituency No 4, Sharur constituency No 2.

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12:11


"The election process can be valued positively", Member of PACE Observation Mission, British Parliamentarian Mike Hancock told APA. Stressing his observation mission during the previous elections in Azerbaijan, the British Deputy said he had observed the election process in seven polling stations in Yasamal and Sabayel districts.

"I value the activity of the electoral commission members positively. It is observed that they mastered instructions on the organizing of the elections perfectly. Voters were also educated well".

Mike Hancock expressed regret that some opposition leaders did not join the elections. "It means that opposition is not active. It is not the fault of the President that some oppositional candidates did not join the elections. I consider that the opposition behaves undemocratically in these elections. It would be better if the opposition joined the elections even if they lost, because the election is important process for the political organizations".

Mike Hancock said he considered the election 2008 to be better than previous ones for its organization and the preparedness level of the commission members and voters. He drew parallels vetween the last presidential elections in the Caucasian countries.

"The elections in Azerbaijan have been organized better than analogical elections in those countries. There were first victims on the day of presidential elections in Armenia. Georgian elections were weak technically and organizationally. Generally if we compare, the election process and organizing of the voting, as well as the situation in Azerbaijan is ten times better."

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12:05

14.1% of voters have voted so far, Interfax-Azerbaijan reports with reference to "Sechkiler" information center under country's Central Electoral Commission.

686,727 people or 14.1% of voters have voted so far.

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11:57

Presidential candidate from United Popular Front Party of Azerbaijan Qudrat Hasanquliyev voted at voting station No 20 of the Second Yasamal constituency No 16, said Hasanquliyev personally to Day.Az.

He noted that no violations have been recorded during voting.

"Reports from the regions say the voting is held normally. The only problem is that the name of my agent, who is registered in the Khatai constituency, has not been found on the list of voters,

Though CEC chairman Mazahir Panakhov said in case voters do not find their name in the lists, they will be able to register with the help of the identity card, yet it did not occur.

In this connection we intend to appeal to the CEC. We hope we will be able to vote within a day. It is currently the only negative fact", noted he.

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11:55


9.4% of all voters took part in the voting process as of 11:00 of October 15, said head of the Rey monitoring center Rizvan Abbasov, according to Novosti-Azerbaijan.

"The voters were more active at the 118th Aghdam, 64th Sabirabad, 66th Bilesuvar and 96th Geranboy constituencies", said he.

According to him, the center officials did not fix any negative incidents. On the contrary, they state the attentive and polite attitude of the voters, members and heads of the polling stations.

Unlike the 2005 parliamentary elections, when an exit-poll was first introduced in Azerbaijan, this year the voters are better informed about the tasks and duties of the sociologists, holding the post-electoral poll of voters' preferences.

The monitoring center holds the exit poll of voters, who leave the polling stations in order to hold an independent control of the official results of the voting. The Center holds the exit-poll at 10% of voting stations in all the regions of the country, including Nakhchivan.

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11:47


Imprisoned Ex-Economic Development Minister of Azerbaijan Farhad Aliyev took part in the presidential elections. APA’s correspondent observed the voting in jail No 2. The ex-minister did not brief the journalists and did not say whom he had voted for. Correspondent of Bizim yol newspaper Mushfig Huseynov, who is also held in the same jail, has not participated in the voting yet.

Polling station No 33 of Azizbayov II ConEC No 14 has been set up in jail No2. 962 voters have been registered in the poling station.

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11:45


"Elections in Azerbaijan resemble elections in our country and in all European countries as well", OSCE former Chairman and former Bulgarian Foreign Minister Solomon Passy told exclusively to APA. Passy said he had visited several polling stations since the start of the voting process and closely watched the process. "I did not face with any problem in the organizing and process of the elections. The elections are being held on a very high level".

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11:32


Working president of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev has voted at polling station No 6 of Sabail constituency No 29.

His spouse Mehriban Aliyeva also took part in the voting.

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11:25


Observers from the Center of Cooperation of Opposition are monitoring the presidential elections, said head of the central office of the Musavat party Arif Hajili.

He noted that four parties, represented in the Center - Popular Front Party of Azerbaijan, Liberal Party of Azerbaijan, Musavat Party, Civil Development Party and Public forum "For Azerbaijan", are holding observations at 150 voting stations of 90 constituencies.

On the whole, 500 observers, registered in the Central Electoral Commission, will observe the elections.

"The preliminary results of voting will be made public in the next few hours", noted he.

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11:20


Independent presidential candidate Qulamhuseyn Alibeyli voted at the 6th voting station of the third Yasamal constituency No 17, said Qulamhuseyn Alibeyli personally to Day.Az.

He said the voting is held in normal conditions and no violations have been recorded yet.

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11:15


"Presidential elections in Azerbaijan have been organized on the high level", said Ivan Popesku, member of CIS Observation Mission from the Ukrainian Party of Regions in his interview with APA.


Popesku said he had already visited several polling stations, as well as in the military units.
"The elections have been organized very well. I would like to note some positive points especially. Installation of web-cameras in the polling stations, ink finger-marking of voters and other factors are providing the fair elections", the CIS observer noted.

Popesku said if analogical positive conditions were provided in other polling stations of the country it was possible to note that presidential elections in Azerbaijan were democratic.
Then Popesku left for the polling stations in Khatai District of Baku.


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11:00

"We observed the opening of the polling stations and starting the voting process. We didn’t face with any breach of law in the process of elections", CIS observer Valeriy Ivanovich Fyodorov, who observed the elections in 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 18th and 19th polling stations of the 15th Yasamal electoral district, told APA.

He said voters were provided with all conditions in the polling stations to vote freely and voters showed high activeness in the morning.


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10:50


Presidential candidate Hafiz Hajiyev has voted in the 32nd voting station of Binagadi constituency No 8, he said personally to Day.Az.

He noted that no serious violations have been recorded so far.

"It is possible to say that these are the most fair and transparent elections. No serious violations have been registered so far, which is confirmed not only by local but also by international observers", noted he.

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10:41


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, reports Day.Az with reference to AzerTac.

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.

Day.Az, APA


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