10 April 2018•Update: 10 April 2018
BAKU
Azerbaijan will head to the polls on Wednesday to elect its new president, who will serve the country for the next seven years.
A total of eight candidates, including current President Ilham Aliyev will compete for the presidency.
The Azerbaijan Central Election Commission established 5,641 polling stations in Azerbaijan and abroad.
According to official data, there are more than 5 million registered voters in the country.
Citizens living abroad will use the ballot boxes in Azerbaijani embassies.
Physically disabled citizens will also be able to vote using temporary ramps established at 1,455 polling stations.
Visually impaired voters will be able to cast their votes on ballot papers in Braille.
Authorities will bring the ballot box to the bedridden, so they can cast their votes at home.
Web cameras were installed at 1,000 polling stations throughout the country, which can be followed live on the AMSK webpage on Election Day.
The election will be monitored by 59 countries, 890 foreigners from 60 international organizations and 58,175 local observers.
In addition to the local press, 118 foreign journalists from 21 countries will cover the election.
Voting will begin at 08.00 a.m. local time (0400GMT) and end at 7.00 p.m. (1500GMT).
The candidates are: Ilham Aliyev from the New Azerbaijan Party, Gudrat Hasanguliyev chairman of the Whole Azerbaijan Popular Front Party, Araz Alizada chairman of Social Democratic Party of Azerbaijan, Faraj Guliyev chairman of National Revival Movement Party, Razi Nurullayev from Azerbaijani Popular Front Party, Hafiz Hajiyev from the Modern Equality Party, Zahid Oruc from Motherland Party and Sardar Mammadov from Azerbaijan Democratic Party.
Reporting by Ruslan Rehimov:Writing by Meryem Goktas
