NAMAT ALIYEV v. AZERBAIJAN JUDGMENT 5 blank ballots out of more than 1,000 blank ballots originally issued to the PEC appeared to be “missing” (the protocol indicated that 313 persons had voted in that polling station, but only eleven of the remaining blank ballots were indicated as “unused” and formally “cancelled”, with no explanation as to what happened to the remaining more than 700 blank ballots). The same was the case with the PEC protocol for Polling Station no. 13, where more than 600 blank ballots were unaccounted for. Similar discrepancies were also allegedly found in PEC protocols for five other polling stations. The applicant claimed that these “missing” blank ballots had been sneaked out and illegally used for ballot-box stuffing in favour of Z.O. in various other polling stations. 25. The applicant argued that, due to all these irregularities, it was not possible to determine the true opinion of the voters in his constituency. He also complained that the CEC had failed to examine his complaint of 7 November 2005. In support of his claims, the applicant submitted copies of the same evidence previously submitted to the CEC, including photocopies of the observers' affidavits and copies of audio material. 26. On 28 November 2005 the Court of Appeal dismissed the applicant's claims as unsubstantiated. The court did not consider the photocopies of the affidavits as admissible evidence, noting that in accordance with the Code of Civil Procedure (“the CCP”) either the originals or notarised copies of those affidavits should have been submitted. Specifically, most of the reasoning contained in the Court of Appeal's judgment was limited to the following: “According to Article 14.2 of the CCP ..., the court shall examine and rely on only the evidence submitted by the parties. According to Article 77.1 of the same Code, each party must prove any allegations which it makes in support of its claims and objections. Based on the material in the case file and the parties' submissions, [the applicant's] claim against [the CEC] ... cannot be upheld. The alleged incidents concerning Barda City Electoral Constituency no. 93, as described in the claim, did not take place. Documents attached to the claim are photocopies and no originals or notarised copies of documents have been submitted. [As such,] affidavits attached to the claim cannot be admitted as evidence. On the other hand, the alleged omission of a significant number of voters from voting lists has not been proved by the material in the case file. In such circumstances, the court considers that [the applicant's] claim against [the CEC] ... must be dismissed.” 27. On 30 November 2005 the applicant lodged a further appeal with the Supreme Court, reiterating his claims. He also noted that he had submitted the originals of the documentary evidence to the CEC on 7 November 2005 and argued that the Court of Appeal had failed to take this fact into account. 28. On 1 December 2005 the Supreme Court dismissed the applicant's appeal on the same grounds as the Court of Appeal's judgment of