GISDI Final Report - Azerbaijan Early Presidential Elections, 11 April 2018 22.05.2018    
        Results of GISDI overall observation of Republic of Azerbaijan Presidential Elections, held on 11 April 2018 show that they were conducted in accordance with the principles of free and fair democratic elections, thus expressing the free will of people and protecting their political and civil rights. The organization and conduct of the Presidential elections were in conformity with the fundamental freedoms.

• The legal electoral framework of Republic of Azerbaijan complies with most international standards for free and fair elections and reflects national context.
• Еlection managing bodies and electoral administration have made every effort to raise the level of transparency of electoral process; to set up clear and feasible requirements for candidates' nomination and registration; to educate and empower voters to exercise their voting rights.
• The total number of voters in the final integral voter list was  5 332 817.
• Voters were provided with an opportunity to check their registration in the preliminary voter lists online, by phone, or in person at PEC.
• Voter list had been updated 40 days before the e-day and during the electoral campaign. The overall process of maintenance and update of the lists was transparent and well organized. 
• 41 polling stations were established in 32 foreign countries.
• CEC and some nongovermental organizations have been conducting a set of different projects with the aim to rise voters’ education and empower them to make informative choice and exercise their civil right to vote.
• 8 candidates have been registered in these elections. We consider that all fundamental democratic principles have been respected as well as the referent norms and procedures in the Election Code in the procedure of registration of candidates.
• Some of the parties boycotted the elections. However, their boycott did not hinder the overall electoral process. 
• No women contested this elections.The female dominance in PECs was obvious.
• The pre-election campaign commenced 23 days prior to Election Day and finish 24 hours prior to Election Day. It started on 19 March 2018.
• All candidates were provided with free air time and space in print media to communicate their political programs with voters. Lists of venues for public agitation materials and for meetings, rallies and other election related events were approved and published by CEC.
• There were 2 pre-election rallies, organized by opposition parties. We have not registered any interference or restrictions.
• The media in pre-election campaign were free enough to cover the campaign of all candidates for free or payed. There were 9 round tables – candidates’ TV debates, on public TV.  
• There have been no complaints and appeals filed during the campaign or on the election day. 
• On this election we observed an essential step forward in the whole organization and conduct of election process from the perspective of the fundamental criteria for transparency.
• The election day has passed smoothly. The voting process on election day was well organized. We have not observed any threat to the free exercise of the people’s voting rights and the organization of the electoral process. The electoral managing bodies in conformity with the Election Code have taken measures to ease voting of voters who by any reason were straitened to vote.
• The overall average evaluation of e-day at the observed polling stations, according to the data gathered by our STOs, tends to be “good” or “very good”. Only very few polling stations were evaluated by our observers with “average” or “bad”, and only as exeption as “very bad”. 
• The counting process was positively assessed by our observers. They have not indicated any serious problems, including intervention by unauthorized people. 
• The final elections results, announced by CEC, were not surprising. There is an impressive steadiness of the electoral quotas from the presidential elections in 2003 up to date. On the other hand, the ratings, registered in pre-election surveys as well as the results of the four parallel Exit Polls on e-day undoubtedly predicted the victory of Ilham Aliyev with 82-87%. He won with 86,02% of valid votes.

          Generally, there are no empirical grounds for arguing that fundamental democratic principles were not preserved on these presidential elections. The opportunity was given to the people of Azerbaijan to make freely their political choice and to vote in a calm atmosphere.
       However, our observers have registered few problems in the electoral campaign, ifringements in voting and counting process, cases of not so good arrangement of PSs rooms. They in their totality do not provide any sufficient ground for cummulated negative assessment of electoral process as a whole.
       Taking into account various considerations and opinions of its observers, GISDI have outlined some concrete recommendations for further amendments and improvement of election process in Republic of Azerbaijan.

FINAL REPORT: TABLE OF CONTENTS

 

GISDI Final Report​, 22 May 2018 (English)	344 Kb (pdf)	свали
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