Referendum Day

Today is election day in Azerbaijan. Across the country Azeri citizens are going to the polls to vote on a referendum to amend the constitution. There are over forty changes proposed but the one garnering the most attention is a proposal to abolish term limits for the president. I have an article today in the CS Monitor on the referendum. EurasiaNet has a good overview posted here.

This afternoon I plan to walk around town to see if the polling places are busy. Although there has been some public debate about the amendments (and posters announcing the vote like the one pictured above) the lead up to election day has been pretty quiet. Last week I noticed a sample ballot was posted near a city park. This morning I passed by the same place and the ballot had been ripped off. It is unclear whether the poster was removed by officials or just taken down by someone walking by - but you'd think today would be the most important day for folks to be able to get that information.

Initial results are expected around midnight.