The Central Election Commission (CEC) conducted a session chaired by Mr.Mazahir Panahov on February 25, 2020.

During the session an issue on the compilation of the protocol on general results of the Elections to the Milli Majlis by CEC, examination of the election results and submission to the Constitutional Court for approval was considered.

It was noted that on February 9, 2020 the Elections to the Milli Majlis was conducted freely, fairly and transparently, thereby becominga historical eventin the country. CEC and the relevant state structures focused on the implementation of the duties and authorities implied by the Election Code for the top-level preparation and conduct of elections. Important stages in the election process which include the update of voters’ lists, improve of normative-legal framework, raising awareness of all election actors including voters, nomination and registration of candidates to deputy, facilitating pre-election campaign on equal conditions, free access for observers and media representatives to be engaged independently and all other steps were put forward in comply with the Calendar Plan compiled and approved by CEC.

The Elections to the Milli Majlis were conducted on 5573 polling stations of 125 election 1637 candidacies were registered,who represented 19 political parties, voters’ initiative groups, also who joined on their own initiatives, 323 of them decided to withdraw their competition after they have been registered and finally, 1314 candidates were included in ballot papers. All the candidates were provided with equal conditions and opportunities during pre-election campaign. Those who intended to become a candidate had conducted free and broad campaign without any obstacle via social pages and online media throughout the whole election campaign since the elections were appointed. Furthermore, pursuant to the Election Code, generally, 272 venues (136 indoor and 136 outdoor) in the country territory were given to disposal of candidates and candidates to deputy held their pre-election gatherings with voters independently using those venues free of charge upon informing Con.ECs.A number of large-sized bill boards covering all polling stations were placed for candidates’ pre-election campaign. The price lists offered to candidates by 40 media outlets which suggested payable airtime for pre-election campaign were submitted to CEC, the information was posted on the commission webpage for the candidates to get familiar with and the principle of equal opportunities for all candidates had always been taken into account.

All the appeals regarding the elections were discussed with the participation of the plaintiffs and interested sides and relevant decisions were adopted upon including the appeals at the session agenda once they had been investigated thoroughly and fairly to ensure citizens’ election rights further.Following the full, transparent and inclusive investigation of the filed appeals, by the Commission decision, the Elections to the Milli Majlis were invalidated on Khatai first Con.EC # 33, Khatai third Con.EC # 35, Lankaran village Con.EC # 74 and Imishli-Beylagan Con.EC # 80. The voting results on 328 polling stations were annulled as a result of investigating the information received from different resources – social pages, appeals addressed by voters and information reported to hotlines. The PECs of 87 election precincts were dismissed due to the shortcomings allowed in their activity during the preparation, conduct of elections and determination of results.

It is worth noting that nearly 90000 election stakeholders with different status – commission members with consultative right, authorized representatives, agents were entitled to observe the work of PECs on the voting day.

883 international observers representing 59 international organizations and 58 countries joined the election observation. 199 international media representatives from competent 132 international mass media were provided with relevant badges upon the accreditation by CEC and monitored the elections. Alongside with all these, 4 organizations held "exit-poll” in the elections, two of which co-arranged their activity with foreign partners.

The representatives of local mass media functioning in the country participated in the election competition from the beginning till the end freely and independently without the requirement of neither an additional registration nor a document.

77790 domestic observers representing many political parties, civil society institutions, registered candidates, also who joined on own initiatives also participated in the observation of the elections.

In general, either domestic and international observers, or local and international media representatives had been fully facilitated to implement their activity freely and independently during the periods of preparation to elections, on the voting day and post-election days.

Along with the above-mentioned means to ensure transparency in the Elections to the Milli Majlis, webcams that allowed observing the voting process lively on internet were installed in 1000 polling stations covering the whole territory of the country excluding the occupied areas. Internet users were able to monitor all the processes from beginning till the end in polling stations on the voting day in real time in a platform open to everyone through the CEC webpage, without requirement of registration. Nearly 230000 webcam views were recorded from different countries and areas worldwide on E-Day and nearly, 80% of observations via webcams were inside the country and 20% were abroad.

After polling stations have been closed on the voting day, the vote calculation was being implemented incessantly. For local and international community to familiarize with the election results, preliminary voting results on election constituencies basing on the information received from 4823 (approx. 87 %) of 5573 polling stations on the country and the information on leader candidates were publicized within several hours after the voting ended. Afterwards, the protocol data of all polling stations on the country was posted on the CEC webpage in timely manner within short time. The voting results protocols and other election documents were transmitted to Con.ECs by PECs and to CEC by Con.ECs.

Voters expressed their will in free and independent manner by coming to polling stations in the Elections to the Milli Majlis and 46,84 % of voters’ total number on the country participated in the voting on E-Day.

During the session the works on the determination of general results of the Elections to the Milli Majlis were regarded finalised, the CEC Protocol on the general results of the elections was compiled and approved by signatures of the Commission members. Pursuant to the Election Code, a decision was adopted to submit the CEC Protocol on the general results of the Elections to the Milli Majlis together with relevant documents for approval to the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Azerbaijan.

Media and Public Relations Department
CEC Secretariat