Election Monitoring and Democracy Studies Center (EMDS) prepared an assessment of the preparations to the 23 December 2019 Municipal Elections, the fifth in the history of independent Azerbaijan. The document analyses the pre-election situation and the implementation status of recommendations of domestic and international organizations, particularly those by Office of Democratic Institutions and Human Rights of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE/ODIHR) and the judgments of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) along with relevant recommendations of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe with regards to improvement of Azerbaijan’s election legislation along with current election practices.
EMDS believes that the authorities failed to address shortcomings of the Election Code despite the repeated calls and recommendations of domestic organizations, the Venice Commission of the Council of Europe and the OSCE/ODIHR. Fair composition of election commissions, effective protection mechanisms of the election right, preventing illegal interference with the electoral process, improving regulations for registration of candidates and shortcomings in voter lists remain unaddressed.
For the full report, download the file here.
