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<<previous | index | next>> Voter Cards, IDs and Voter ListsProblems with issuing and distributing identification documents and voter cards could end up disenfranchising a significant proportion of the population. According to the law, a voter must present both a voter card and a valid identity document in order to be able to vote.22 As of mid-2005, Soviet passports were no longer being accepted as valid identity documents, making it necessary for some citizens to obtain new identity documents. The Ministry of Internal Affairs deployed mobile units around the country to issue these documents and promised to have issued them to all voters by election day.23 However, by the end of August, an estimated one million citizens remained without valid identity documents.24 Local observers and individuals trying to get identity documents told Human Rights Watch that there were delays in issuing the documents, the fees were prohibitive for some people, and the issuing authorities demanded bribes.25 The government’s main justification for introducing a system of voter cards was to avoid multiple voting.26 Local and international election monitors have found that voter cards—which have been introduced for the first time for the November 2005 elections—were not being distributed in a controlled fashion. Usually, the precinct election commission officials took on the responsibility to distribute voters cards, but at times local government officials and building supervisors for apartment blocks were handing them out.27 The OSCE found that “the lack of procedural uniformity in issuing voter cards is a development that raises concern.”28 With the government having opted for voter cards and not for inking of voters’ fingers (as noted above), the lack of control over the distribution of the cards renders them ineffective as a mechanism to stop multiple voting. Local and international monitors have also raised concerns about the accuracy of the voters lists.29 Voters did not actively check the lists during the period when changes were able to be made.30 Monitors and opposition members fear manipulation of results through bogus voting on behalf of absentees, particularly migrant workers from Azerbaijan currently working in neighboring countries such as Russia and Turkey.31
[22] Article 104.6 of the Election Code. [23] Human Rights Watch interview with Meherim Gasanov, Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic Election Commission, Nakhchivan, October 11, 2005. [24] Human Rights Watch interview with Anar Mammadli, Election Monitoring Center of Nongovernmental Organizations, Baku, August 30, 2005. [25] The official fees for issuing the document were approximately U.S.$10, a large sum for many in Azerbaijan where in 2005 the minimum wage was approximately U.S.$33 per month. Local monitoring groups said that the issuing authorities regularly sought bribes to issue documents, thus increasing the cost. Human Rights Watch interview with Anar Mammadli, Election Monitoring Center of Nongovernmental Organizations, Baku, August 30, 2005. Human Rights Watch interviewed one Azerbaijani citizen who said that the authorities demanded a bribe in the amount of 100,000 manat (more than U.S.$20). Human Rights Watch interview with an Azerbaijani citizen seeking a passport, Baku, September 27, 2005. [26] Human Rights Watch interview with Dan Blessington, IFES, Baku, October 3, 2005. [27] Human Rights Watch interview with Anar Mammadli, Election Monitoring Center of Nongovernmental Organizations, Baku, August 30, 2005. [28] In particular, the report went on to say: “Voter cards are not strictly accounted for. They are often left with neighbours or family members, or left in the post box of private residences. The EOM has observed multiple cases of proxy signing in receipt of voter cards in a number of constituencies. Cases of voter cards issued in the name of deceased persons have also occurred, indicating that the required ID check did not take place.” OSCE/ODIHR, Election Observation Mission, Republic of Azerbaijan – Parliamentary Elections 2005, Interim Report No. 2 (24 September–7 October). [29] See, for example, Weekly Report 5 (August 24-31), Election Monitoring Center, on file with Human Rights Watch, and OSCE/ODIHR, Election Observation Mission, Republic of Azerbaijan – Parliamentary Elections 2005, Interim Report No. 2 (24 September–7 October). [30] In September, lists were publicly displayed and voters had the right to check the lists for their names and then seek changes directly with the election commission, if they found inaccuracies. From October 1, a voter needed to apply to court to seek a change to the voter list. [31] Some people estimate that more than two million Azerbaijani citizens are working in Russia and Turkey, many of whom support their families back in Azerbaijan. The government says the figure is much lower. See, for example, “Ramil Usubov Has Told the PACE Mission About Pre-Election Situation in the Country,” Turan Information Agency, October 13, 2005. Monitors and candidates also raised concerns with Human Rights Watch about the possible misuse of the votes of other groups, such as internally displaced persons and soldiers.
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