Baku, October 8. Chairman of the Central Election Commission Mazahir Panahov held a final press conference on the pre-election preparations at the Independent Press Center.

Panahov pointed out 10 candidates will compete for presidency during this election. According to him, all necessary conditions have been created for the democratic campaigning.

The election will see about 5,145,000 voters casting their ballots in 5,492 polling stations, of which 5,273 are permanent and the rest are temporary ones created five days before the voting. The temporary stations were set up at the Azerbaijan`s diplomatic missions, oil platforms, sanatoriums, military units, correctional facilities and ships sailing under the Azerbaijani flag.

Panahov pointed out that the voters who would not find their names on the voter lists will be able to vote by presenting their IDs. Their names will be added into the new voter list to ensure their voting rights. The CEC chief said about 1400 international observers will be monitoring the elections. Of them, nearly 100 are foreign media representatives. The voting process will be monitored by approximately 52,000 local observers of whom over 6,000 were accredited by the CEC and the remaining 42,000 by the permanent election commissions. He underlined that 5492 polling stations had been set up in 125 constituencies. Web cameras have been installed in 1000 polling stations, which make up 20% of the total number of stations.

The CEC chairman noted that important steps had been undertaken to educate election actors. Handbooks were distributed to policemen and observers. Ramps were installed in the polling stations for the disabled persons. These people will vote in some 1200 stations.

A polling station has been created for the Hajj pilgrims for the first time. Up to 3700 Azerbaijanis on a Hajj pilgrimage, business trip etc. will be able to vote in Mecca.

Panahov noted that the voting will begin at 08:00 a.m. and end at 07:00 p.m. on October 9. The population will be informed five times a day about the course of voting. The early results of voting will be made public in late evening hours.