Observer reports violations in district where Ziyad Samadzade leads

During the special elections for the Milli Mejlis at polling station 13 in the 23rd Nasimi-Sabail electoral district at School No. 23, violations occurred, Rahida Rahimova, a member of the electoral commission with an advisory vote representing the independent candidate Eldar Ismayilov told Turan agency. "Everything was transparent in the morning, but problems began in the afternoon, and after voting concluded, the continuity of the election process was disrupted," said Rahimova.

According to her, observers were initially informed that the commission members would take a "10-minute break" before starting the vote count. "However, the counting did not begin. Interestingly, none of the observers demanded compliance with legal requirements, and it seemed as if they were prepared for this. Four to five of the observers were teachers from the school, and one was a former police officer. Additionally, there was an observer from the candidate Ziyad Samadzade. Only the observer from the Yeni Azerbaijan Party expressed dissatisfaction and demanded that legal procedures be followed. As a result, the vote count started 1 hour and 20 minutes later," Rahimova said.

She claimed that during the removal of ballots from the urns, other observers - who were school teachers - interfered with her filming. "They obstructed my camera and suggested I go have dinner," Rahimova said.

The vote counting was conducted in violation of the law - ballots were stacked without announcing the supported candidate. "Some ballots were folded in pairs, meaning they were placed in the urns in that form, but the commission members tried to hide this," Rahimova stated. "I demand an investigation into these violations, as they are contrary to the policies of President Ilham Aliyev and Mehriban Aliyeva," Rahimova said.

She also presented a video of the vote counting process. According to the Central Election Commission's results for this district, the leading candidate is the incumbent deputy, 84-year-old Ziyad Samadzade.