Azernews.Az

By Nigar Abbasova

Referendum voting for changes to the Constitution of Azerbaijan, which kicked off on September 26 has also extended abroad.

Azerbaijani nationals are actively voting at the polling stations created in diplomatic representations, located in some 40 countries to ensure participation of the country’s citizens (residing abroad or sent on an assignment trip) in the referendum.

More than 50 percent of Azerbaijani citizens in the UAE have so far cast their votes in the polling station set up at Azerbaijan’s embassy as part of the referendum to amend the Constitution of the country.

Dashgin Shikarov, Azerbaijani ambassador to the UAE, told Trend that 76 Azerbaijani citizens, temporarily or permanently residing in the UAE, were registered in the electoral list of the 16th Yasamal constituency’s polling station set up at the embassy in Abu Dhabi, while some 197 people were registered in the polling station in Dubai.

Azerbaijani citizens are also casting their ballots at a polling station at Azerbaijan's Embassy in Riga, Latvia. Some 4.66 percent of the eligible voters registered at the Embassy have already expressed their wills.

Polling station was also created in the country’s embassy in Russia, while 1,500 Azerbaijani citizens, permanently or temporarily residing in Russia, were registered at the station. About 15 percent of voters (approximately 230 people), have voted in the referendum as of 10:30 Moscow time (GMT+3).

One more polling station was opened in the Consulate General of Azerbaijan in St. Petersburg and another one was created at the Consulate General of Azerbaijan in Yekaterinburg. Representatives of the Interparliamentary Assembly of the Commonwealth of Independent States (IPA CIS) are observing the voting process.

The citizens of Azerbaijan, permanently or temporarily residing in France, as well as the Azerbaijani students in the French universities, are casting their ballots at the polling station in the embassy in Paris.

Some 62% of Azerbaijani eligible voters have cast ballots in a polling station at the country`s Embassy in Beijing as of 15:00 local time, while no frauds or irregularities have been reported.

CEC has taken all necessary measures to provide glass boxes, bulletin, ink and other materials required for voting to provide every condition for participation of voters. All stations have all conditions necessary for a transparent and free voting. Polling stations were created 30 days before the voting day in countries, where the number of voters who are on the consular register, exceeds 50, under Article 35.6 of Azerbaijan’s Electoral Code. Such polling stations may only be created during referendums and presidential elections.

The nationwide vote will wrap up at 19:00 (UTC/GMT +4).

President Ilham Aliyev proposed amendments to 29 Articles of Azerbaijan’s current constitution. The Constitutional Court gave the go ahead for the proposed changes on July 27.

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