The voting process for Azerbaijan's snap parliamentary elections has officially ended, and the counting of votes is now underway, according to a Sputnik correspondent on Sunday.

Polling stations throughout the country were open from 8 am (04:00 GMT) to 7 pm The Central Election Commission (CEC) of Azerbaijan reported that voter turnout was 33.82% by 5 pm.

Over 6.4 million eligible voters had the opportunity to cast their ballots in this election, where 990 candidates are vying for 125 parliamentary seats, each with a five-year term.

To ensure transparency, the CEC accredited 111,200 national and 267 international observers from 46 countries and 29 organizations. Notable observers include representatives from the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, the Parliamentary Assembly of Turkic States (TURKPA), and the Parliamentary Assembly of the Commonwealth of Independent States. Parliamentary representatives from Russia, Turkiye, Georgia, and Kazakhstan also monitored the elections.

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The electoral process proceeded smoothly, without any reported incidents. Amir Khamitov, a member of the Russian parliament observer delegation, confirmed to Sputnik that no violations were observed and that all necessary information regarding the election procedure was available at the information stands. Khamitov also highlighted the "rather high turnout" observed during the elections.

The CEC is expected to release early results on Sunday night, with the final results to be announced within the next 20 days.

Traditionally, Azerbaijan's parliamentary elections are held in early November. However, this year's election was moved to September 1 to avoid overlapping with the UN Climate Change Conference (COP29), according to parliament speaker Sahiba Gafarova.
 
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