Azerbaijanis have started to vote as part of the referendum for making amendments to the country’s Constitution.

Chairman of the Central Election Commission Mazahir Panahov held a press conference and said that the voting started at 08: 00 AM. Panahov noted that all conditions were created for the Azerbaijani voters, they could express opinion on all amendments proposed to 29 articles of the Constitution. “More than 53 000 observers, including 117 international observers will monitor the voting procedure. Everybody should be sure that the voting procedure will be completely transparent,” he said.

The referendum started with the performance of Azerbaijan`s national anthem.

As many as 5,627 polling stations for 125 constituencies opened across the country, with around 5.2 million eligible voters.

Polling stations are available at Azerbaijan’s diplomatic missions in 38 countries in accordance with the country’s Constitution and Election Code in order to ensure the participation of citizens, who live and are on a business trip abroad, in the referendum.  

The Central Election Commission will release information about the voter turnout five times throughout the day (at 10:00, 12:00, 15:00, 17:00 and 19:00).  

On July 26, Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev has signed an order on holding a referendum for making amendments to the country’s Constitution on September 26, 2016.  

Azerbaijan has opened polling stations at the embassies in the United States, Germany, Austria, Belarus, the United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, Czech Republic, China, Canada, France, Georgia, Iran, Spain, Switzerland, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Sweden, the Netherlands, Uzbekistan, Poland, Russia Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Ukraine, Belgium, Italy, and at the colsulates in Aktau, Dubai, Istanbul, Los Angeles, St. Petersburg, Tabriz, Yekaterinburg, Batumi and Almaty.