On 15 October 2008, Ilham Aliyev was re-elected for a second term as President of Azerbaijan. 4.8 million eligible voters were registered to cast their vote for one of the seven candidates. Voter turnout came to 76 %. Based on the final results announced on 22 October, Ilham Aliyev collected 88.73 % of the votes while the other six candidates received between 2.86 % and 0.65 % of the votes (1).

The OCSE/ODIHR had sent 440 election observers. Its official statement mentioned “notable improvements”(2) in carrying out the elections, although the lack of fairness and competition during campaigning was criticised.

Election Code of Azerbaijan

According to the electoral law set out in the Election Code of the Republic of Azerbaijan a member of the Precinct Election Commissions (election commission) standing at the entrance has to check voters’ thumbs for ink stains. Voters’ identification documents had to be checked, ballot papers issued and invisible ink sprayed on the voters’ thumbs. The election commission chairperson has to make sure that each voter enters the polling booth separately. A further election commission member needs to ensure that the ballot papers are deposited into the ballot box and that voters leave the polling station.

Finger inking bas been allowed only since the parliamentary elections in 2005, when President Aliyev issued a decree less than two weeks before the elections. This short notice measure caused widespread uncertainty and confusion among the election commission members during the elections in 2005.

Smooth voting and counting activities on the election day

Almost 5,000 polling stations were set up in 125 constituencies throughout the country. No major disruptions were reported. Observing the voting and the counting process in the north east province of Quba provides a picture of an organised election day. Procedures and the technical handling of invisible ink and ultraviolet lamps seem to be predominantly known by the election commission members.

Election commission members did their best to ensure an accurate procedure of the election process. ID documents were checked carefully. One man was refused as he held an invalid USSR passport. It was observed that the chairmen of an election commission actively prevented more than one person entering a voting booth. Looks into the ballot boxes did not give indications of ballot stuffing.

After the closure of the polling station # 25 in the constituency # 52 in Quba district the election commission’s chairman announced that 57 of the 265 ballot papers were not used. The remaining 208 ballot papers were to be counted. All members of the election commission participated in the counting while local and international observers as well as the local press followed the process. The chairmen verified that the ballot box was still properly sealed and then emptied the box for the counting. Two ballot papers were invalid, as one voter had signed the paper, and the second had ticked two boxes. Out of the remaining 206 valid votes, Ilham Aliyev received 202, Igbal Agazadeh 2 and both Hafiz Hajiyev and Fuad Aliyev 1 each. These proportions of votes correspond with Ilham Aliyev’s national landslide victory.

The election committee packed the votes per candidate and the invalid votes into separate envelopes and filled in the final protocol to be transferred to the Constituency Election Commission who then transfers all envelopes of the constituency to the Central Election Commission.

Observed shortcomings in and outside the polling stations

Reports of serious election fraud on election day were rare and limited to Baku where RFE/RL reported cases in which students and civil servants were bussed into polling stations and told to vote (3). Additionally, President Aliyev’s portrait was shown in a number of polling stations although he had ordered they be removed from public places such as class rooms, and images of his father, the previous president, were widely recognisable on main squares on the election day.

Apart from that, shortcomings were mainly related to individual disinterest and misbehaviour. Remarkably, a party agent authorised by a candidate to follow the work of the election commission in one polling station could name the party the candidate represents but was able to name the candidate only after a couple of seconds respite.

On a more technical level, one case was observed where a voter showed his marked ballot paper to a member of election commission which was then put into ballot box. One case was witnessed when two persons entered the booth together and one polling station did not use ink and ultraviolet lamps although both were available.

Harassment and intimidation of the opposition did not occur on election day

The OSCE press release states that “[t]he election was conducted in a peaceful manner, but was characterized by a lack of robust competition and vibrant political discourse facilitated by the media, and thus did not reflect all principles of a meaningful and pluralistic democratic election.” (4) This major shortcoming could not be observed on the election day but must not be ignored.

The opposition boycotted the elections. In an interview with Deutsche Welle, Ali Kerimov of the opposition party Azerbaijan Popular Front explained the reasons. The TV channels are controlled by the authorities, members of opposition parties were prohibited to organise campaigning events and to travel abroad (5). Arbitrary arrests of members of the opposition parties have been reported as well (6). According a BBC correspondent “[o]fficials deny opposition claims that restrictions prevented them competing in a democratic campaign” (7).

Human Rights Watch in its statement “Azerbaijan’s Human Rights Situation Prior to the Election” to the Commission of Security and Cooperation in Europe on 29 July 2008 reiterated its concerns about rapidly deteriorating media freedoms in Azerbaijan and the closure of the country’s main independent election monitoring organisation. In particular, the testimony mentions several cases of intimidation of independent and opposition journalists, and the failure to meaningfully investigate reports of violence and threats of violence against opposition and independent journalists (8).

Most of the public was not aware of any campaigning by other candidates nor seemed aware that any candidate aside from Ilham Aliyev was running. RFE/RL reported that none of the candidates running against Aliyev had “any known political experience” (9). Conversations with ordinary people after the election day indicated a certain indifference about the elections since the potential to influence the result significantly was considered minimal.

Compared to the parliamentary elections in 2005, progress has been achieved in terms of the professionalism of the election commissions. However, while the 2005 elections were labelled as an “opportunity”(10) , expectations for this year’s ballot were rather low.

Despite a smooth process on the election day broader issues such as press freedom, freedom of association and the independence of the courts need to be considered and addressed.

Kristin Höltge observed the elections as short term observer of the World Network of Election Observers (WNEO) mission.

Notes:
(1) „Constitutional Court to announce the results of elections in Azerbaijan on October 22 – UPDATED”, APA, 22 October 2008
(2) “Azerbaijan's presidential poll marked considerable progress, but did not meet all election commitments”, OSCE/ODIHR press release, 16 October 2008
(3) „Azerbaijan's Opposition Cries 'Foul' As President Reelected”, RFE/RL, 16 October 2008
(4)“Azerbaijan's presidential poll marked considerable progress, but did not meet all election commitments”, OSCE/ODIHR press release, 16 October 2008
(5)„Aserbaidschan: Opposition erkennt Präsidentenwahl nicht an“, Deutsche Welle, Fokus Ost-Südost, 16 October 2008
(6)„Präsidentschaftswahlen in Aserbaidschan“, Stephan Laack, tagesschau.de, 15 October 2008, http://www.tagesschau.de/multimedia/audio/audio27640.html
(7)„Aliyev re-elected in Azerbaijan”, BBC News, 15 October 2008, http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/7671090.stm
(8)“Azerbaijan’s Human Rights Situation Prior to the Election”, Testimony of Giorgi Gogia, Caucasus Researcher, Human Rights Watch, to the Commission for Security and Cooperation in Europe, 29 July 2008
(9) „The Briefing: Postmortem Of The Azerbaijani Election”, RFE/RL, 16 October 2008
(10)„ Azerbaijan's 2005 Elections: Lost Opportunity”, Crisis Group Policy Briefing N°40, 21 November 2005