Azerbaijani opposition states violations at referendum

From the very opening of polling stations, messages began arriving about violations of the law during the referendum, says the statement of the "Musavat" Party released today, where reference is made to the information of its activists and voters themselves.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that today at 8:00 a.m. Baku time, Azerbaijan began voting at the referendum on amendments to the Constitution.

"Since morning, we've received information about dozens of violations of the law in different constituencies. Mainly, it is about ballot stuffing (throw-in) and the so-called 'carousels', intended to artificially inflate the voter turnout. According to our data, the voter turnout is very low; at least much lower than 30.6 percent, declared by the CEC (Central Election Commission)," Gyulyaga Aslanly, the head of the office of the "Musavat" Party, told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

The official data on voter turnout is greatly overstated, Jamil Gasanli, the Chairman of the National Council of Democratic Forces (NCDF), also believes.

"The voter turnout, declared by the CEC, is falsified. If indeed, by the afternoon, 30 percent of voters have cast their ballots, then, there should have been queues at polling stations, because the ballot paper has 29 questions; and filling it in takes more time than at usual elections," Mr Gasanli told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.