NAMAT ALIYEV v. AZERBAIJAN JUDGMENT
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Another party, which fielded candidates in over 60 constituencies, was the opposition
Liberal Party of Azerbaijan.
...
V. ELECTION ADMINISTRATION
The election was administered by a three-tiered system of election commissions ...
There are 125 constituency election commissions and 5,137 polling station election
commissions. All election commissions have a 2/3 requirement for quorum and for
adopting decisions.
The transitional method of composition of election commissions continued to be
problematic, as it favored the incumbent authorities and undermined confidence in the
independence of the election administration. Election commissions are formed
according to a complex formula, and in essence, pro-government parties have a
majority in all election commissions sufficient to make all decisions. Moreover, the
chairpersons of all election commissions were nominated by the parliamentary
majority.
The CEC held regular meetings open to media and observers, and most decisions
were published and available on its website. The CEC met most deadlines of the
Election Code regarding technical preparations for the elections. An extensive voter
education effort was conducted through the media.
A number of aspects of the CEC's performance were problematic, however,
including processing of complaints and appeals, ensuring the uniform implementation
of the Election Code by ConECs and PECs, and organization of military voting.
Observers reported uncertainty and confusion on the interpretation and application of
some legal and procedural issues by ConECs and PECs.
A number of election commissions operated in a transparent and collegial manner,
and a few issued warnings to candidates or officials for violating the law. However,
during the pre-election period, commission members nominated by opposition parties
in some constituencies claimed that they were in a number of instances not informed
of ConEC meetings, denied access to key documents and had little influence on the
decision-making process. The OSCE/ODIHR EOM [Election Observation Mission]
was able to verify some of these claims.
...
VII. CAMPAIGN
...
The general campaign environment was characterized by the fact that the ruling
YAP party dominated government and most district administrations, including the
election commissions.
...
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