NAMAT ALIYEV v. AZERBAIJAN JUDGMENT 25 been impaired. For these reasons, the Government's above argument must be dismissed. 76. Turning to the assessment of the substance of the applicant's complaint under the Convention, the Court notes that the applicant complained of numerous instances of irregularities and breaches of electoral law which had allegedly taken place prior to and during election day in numerous polling stations in his electoral constituency. In doing so, he essentially reiterated the detailed claims he had made before the domestic authorities (see paragraphs 9-18 and 24 above). He maintained that due to these irregularities in themselves, as well as the domestic authorities' failure to duly address them, the election in his constituency had not been free and democratic and the official election results had not reflected the real opinion of voters. 77. As for the applicant's claims concerning the specific instances of alleged irregularities, the Court notes that, although the evidence presented by the applicant in support of his claims can be considered strong (see paragraphs 78-79 below), in the circumstances of the present case it is not in a position to assume a fact-finding role by attempting to determine whether all or part of these alleged facts had taken place and, if so, whether they had amounted to irregularities capable of thwarting the free expression of the opinion of the people. Owing to the subsidiary nature of its role, the Court must be cautious in taking on the function of a first-instance tribunal of fact, where this is not rendered unavoidable by the circumstances of a particular case. Moreover, the Court is not required under the Convention to verify whether any alleged irregularity had amounted to a breach of Azerbaijani electoral law (see I.Z. v. Greece, no. 18997/91, Commission decision of 28 February 1994, Decisions and Reports 76-B, p. 65, at p. 68). Again, the Court reiterates that its task under Article 3 of Protocol No. 1 is rather to satisfy itself, from a more general standpoint, that the respondent State has complied with its obligation to hold elections under free and fair conditions and ensured that individual electoral rights were exercised effectively. 78. That being said, the Court cannot but acknowledge the seriousness of the claims made by the applicant before the domestic authorities. In particular, he complained of unlawful interference in the election process by local executive authorities, undue influence on voter choice, several instances of ballot-box stuffing, harassment of observers, irregularities in electoral rolls and obvious discrepancies in PEC protocols showing a possible failure to account for as many as thousands of “unused” blank ballots. The Court considers that these types of irregularities, if duly confirmed to have taken place, were indeed potentially capable of thwarting the democratic nature of the elections. The Court further notes that the applicant's allegations were based on the relevant evidence, which consisted mainly of affidavits signed by official observers, who gave fact-specific accounts of the alleged irregularities witnessed by them. The Court also has