Member of American Observers Group: “Azerbaijan election was fair, well-organized and transparent”

Member of American Observers Group: “Azerbaijan election was fair, well-organized and transparent”
# 26 October 2013 10:52 (UTC +04:00)

He says they were never spoken to or influenced by Azerbaijani officials: “When voters arrived, they were greeted by a thumb checker with an ultra-violet light. Each voter was given a little “spritz” on his or her thumb after an identification check. Each site served approximately 1000 voters. Each polling site was well staffed and, as there were 9 candidates running, at least one representative for each sat at every site with clear views of the proceedings. Many of the sites had cameras that could be watched on the internet with a free app. The lines were shorter and the procedure much more secure than in my own polling site at home. Unlike places such as Florida, no one waited for hours and there were no "hanging chads””.

McMahon noted that their group alone covered nearly 400 sites in Baku and throughout the countryside: “My partner and I had a diverse list, from the venue where Azerbaijani President Aliyev and his wife voted in a plush school in the heart of downtown Baku across from the Four Seasons Hotel, to a polling place outside the city in a tiny community- support center which served the social needs of those Azerbaijanis who had been displaced by Armenia in the war over the Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan. I saw in those voters faces especially, what I saw in all the voters faces, as over 80 percent of those eligible to vote showed up: A determination to make their vote count, to have their voice heard, to be part of history as this less than 25-year-old democracy took a major step away from the oppression of the Soviet Union and took a giant leap forward with a clean and transparent election day”.

At the end of the article, former congressman also underlined Azerbaijan’s importance for the US: “Azerbaijan is an extremely important ally for the United States given its location between Russia and Iran, its enormous oil and gas deposits, its multi-culturalism, and most of all its people who are extraordinarily friendly to Americans and who are determined to continue their march toward democracy.”

#
#

THE OPERATION IS BEING PERFORMED