Elections in Azerbaijan

After its independence from the Soviet Union, elections in Azerbaijan have frequently been affected by electoral fraud and other unfair election practices, such as holding opposition politicians as political prisoners. Since 1993, Heydar Aliyev and his son Ilham Aliyev have been continuously in power.^[1]^[2]^[3]^[4]^[5]^[6]^[7]

Political scientists characterize Azerbaijan as an electoral authoritarian regime.^[8] The ruling New Azerbaijan Party, headed by Ilham Aliyev, controls all the electoral commissions in Azerbaijan.^[9]

The President of Azerbaijan is elected for a seven-year term by the people; before a constitutional referendum changed this in 2009, the position was limited to two terms. The National Assembly (Milli Məclis) has 125 members. Before 2005, 100 members were elected for a five-year term in single-seat constituencies and 25 members were elected by proportional representation. Since 2005 all 125 members are elected in single-seat constituencies. Azerbaijan is a one party dominant state. The most recent parliamentary elections were held on Sunday, 9 February 2020. The most recent presidential election was held on Wednesday, 11 April 2018.

On the 7th December 2023, President Aliyev announced a snap presidential election would take place in 2024, rather than holding it in 2025.^[10] The election will be held on the 7th February 2024.

Latest elections

2020 Azerbaijani parliamentary election


Party		Votes	%	Seats	+/–
	New Azerbaijan Party	976,163	41.84	70	+1
	Musavat	38,714	1.66	0	0
	Civic Solidarity Party	27,121	1.16	3	+1
	Whole Azerbaijan Popular Front Party	16,189	0.69	1	0
	Great Order Party	15,846	0.68	1	0
	Motherland Party	12,587	0.54	1	0
	Civic Unity Party	11,983	0.51	1	0
	Unity Party	11,347	0.49	1	0
	Azerbaijan Democratic Enlightenment Party	9,004	0.39	1	0
	Azerbaijan Hope Party	7,565	0.32	0	0
	Modern Musavat Party	6,844	0.29	0	0
	Azerbaijan National Independence Party	6,688	0.29	0	0
	United Azerbaijan Party	6,358	0.27	0	0
	Azerbaijan Democrat Party	6,110	0.26	0	0
	Democratic Reforms Party	5,533	0.24	1	0
	National Revival Movement Party	4,980	0.21	0	–1
	Azerbaijan Free Republican Party	2,637	0.11	0	0
	Azerbaijan People's Party	2,330	0.10	0	0
	Azerbaijan Social Prosperity Party	1,508	0.06	0	–1
	Democratic Azerbaijani World Party	1,202	0.05	0	0
	National Unity Party	1,163	0.05	0	0
	Intellectuals Party	1,029	0.04	0	0
	Azerbaijan Communist Party	957	0.04	0	0
	Great Azerbaijan Party	834	0.04	0	0
	Citizen and Development Party [az]	798	0.03	0	0
	Justice Party	766	0.03	0	0
	Azerbaijan Liberal Democratic Party [az]	638	0.03	0	0
	Azerbaijan Fighters Party	74	0.00	0	0
	Independents	1,155,884	49.55	41	–2
Invalidated				4	–
Total		2,332,852	100.00	125	0

Valid votes		2,332,852	92.94
Invalid/blank votes		177,283	7.06
Total votes		2,510,135	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		5,359,015	46.84
Source: MSK, IPU

2024 presidential election


Candidate		Party	Votes	%
	Ilham Aliyev	New Azerbaijan Party	4,567,458	92.12
	Zahid Oruj	Independent	107,632	2.17
	Fazil Mustafa	Great Order Party	98,421	1.99
	Qüdrat Hasanquliyev	Whole Azerbaijan Popular Front Party	85,411	1.72
	Razi Nurullayev	National Front Party	39,643	0.80
	Elşad Musayev [az]	Great Azerbaijan Party	32,885	0.66
	Fuad Aliyev [az]	Independent	26,517	0.53
Total			4,957,967	100.00

Valid votes			4,957,967	99.80
Invalid/blank votes			9,828	0.20
Total votes			4,967,795	100.00
Registered voters/turnout			6,478,840	76.68
Source: Turan Infocenter, CC

Past elections

Presidential elections

Parliamentary elections

Constitutional referendums

Other referendums

References

^ Umudov, Agshin (2019). "Europeanization of Azerbaijan: Assessment of Normative Principles and Pragmatic Cooperation". Politik und Gesellschaft im Kaukasus: Eine unruhige Region zwischen Tradition und Transformation (in German). Springer Fachmedien. pp. 67–68. ISBN 978-3-658-26374-4.
^ Goyushov, Altay; Huseynli, Ilkin (2019). "Halted Democracy: Government Hijacking of the New Opposition in Azerbaijan". Politik und Gesellschaft im Kaukasus: Eine unruhige Region zwischen Tradition und Transformation (in German). Springer Fachmedien. pp. 27–51. doi:10.1007/978-3-658-26374-4_2. ISBN 978-3-658-26374-4.
^ Bedford, Sofie; Vinatier, Laurent (October 2019). "Resisting the Irresistible: 'Failed Opposition' in Azerbaijan and Belarus Revisited". Government and Opposition. 54 (4): 686–714. doi:10.1017/gov.2017.33. ISSN 0017-257X.
^ Kamilsoy, Najmin (1 September 2023). "Unintended transformation? Organizational responses to regulative crackdown on civil society in Azerbaijan". Southeast European and Black Sea Studies: 1–20. doi:10.1080/14683857.2023.2243698.
^ Bajek, Mateusz (2020). "The meaning behind Azerbaijan's forged elections". New Eastern Europe. pp. 107–113. Retrieved 6 September 2023.
^ Synovitz, Ron (7 February 2020). "Azerbaijan's 'Equal Coverage' Law Stifles Media Reports on Elections". Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. Retrieved 6 September 2023.
^ Kramer, Richard Kauzlarich, David J. (11 April 2018). "Azerbaijan's Election Is a Farce". Foreign Policy. Retrieved 6 September 2023.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
^ Sarkissian, Ani (2015). The Varieties of Religious Repression: Why Governments Restrict Religion. Oxford University Press. p. 80. ISBN 978-0-19-934808-4.
^ "Azerbaijan Parliamentary Elections 2005: Summary". www.hrw.org. 2005.
^ "Azerbaijan's Aliyev calls snap presidential elections for February". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 18 January 2024.