Azerbaijan starts voting in extraordinary parliamentary elections

Polling stations opened in Azerbaijan at 8:00 (7:00 Moscow time) and voting began at extraordinary parliamentary elections. Over five million citizens are expected to vote. Elections will be held at 125 polling stations. The number of candidates for deputies is more than 1.3 thousand, and seats in Parliament 125. About 250 candidates for deputies were nominated from 19 political parties, the rest of the participants of the election race self-candidates and candidates from initiative groups of citizens. The elections will be observed by 883 international observers and more than 65,000 local observers. Azerbaijani legislation does not establish a mandatory threshold for voter turnout, so elections will be recognized as having taken place regardless of the number of citizens who have appeared at polling stations. The news agency recalls that the day of voting was preceded by the so-called day of silence. The Parliament was dissolved by Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev on December 5, 2019, and the holding of extraordinary elections was scheduled for February 9, 2020. Read also: Day of silence before extraordinary elections to Majlis came in Azerbaijan