Chairman of Azerbaijan’s Central Electoral Commission Mazahir Panahov has given an exclusive interview to ANS TV.

-Are you prepared for the referendum?

– Yes, we are.

-On what criterions do you assess the preparedness of the electoral constituencies?

-We have got more than 5300 polling stations across the country. We are always working on providing our voters with high-quality service during the elections.

We have installed sufficient number of cabins in the polling stations. It is very important moment during the referendum.
The electors will vote on 45 amendments covering 29 articles. We have also increased the number of cabins. The minimum number of cabins in the polling stations constitutes 4-6. We have got the polling stations with between 50-1500 voters. We have also distributed sufficient number of ballot boxes. The minimum number of boxes in the polling stations is 4. I hope we will not face any problem on that particular issue. The voter’s lists have been checked over couple of times and relevant corrections were made. It is very important issue.
On the whole, we have created all the condition for electoral commissions. At the same time, all the observers have already passed through accreditation. WE will have more than 47 thousand observers 200 of whom are visiting the country from abroad. They represent the Council of Europe, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Commonwealth of Independent States, the Monitoring Mission of the CIS as well as the representatives of European Parliament and etc. The polling stations will be ready by 8.00am on March 18.
We have installed more than 500 web cameras ion the polling stations which will enable to monitor the elections worldwide.

-What are your expectations on voters’ activity?

-Generally speaking, we look at the statistics of the recent years; we will see a high level of activity during elections. Of course, you can find some difference between the general and additional elections which is quite natural. And of course, you can’t compare one election with another one; I mean the presidential elections, parliamentary elections, municipality lections and referendum. However, on the whole, the level of activity during elections in the country has always been high despite the fact that there is no quorum for elections; it is 25% only for the referendum.

– How do you asses the agitation campaign period? The campaign is due to finish.
-If we look at the dynamics of the agitation process, our achievement are really noteworthy. It is impossible to compare the elections held in the late 1990s and early 2000s with the recent ones. I mean our voters have become considerably informed about the elections; they are capably to put forward their objective attitudes.
– When will you announce the results of the referendum?
-The preliminary results as a rule are announced later the same day. We previously managed to announce the results of municipality elections after the midnight. Therefore, we will try to announce the preliminary results later on March 18. /ANS TV/