BAKU: Out of 16,294 candidates who returned signature sheets, 16,238 have registered their candidacies for the municipal elections in Azerbaijan, Azerbaijan’s CEC Chairman Mazahir Panahov stated at a press conference held at the Central Election Commission today, APA reports.

According to Azeri-Press News Agency, the CEC Chairman mentioned that 99.7% of those who returned signature sheets were registered. He emphasized that this is a very large number. During the subsequent processes, some candidates withdrew their candidacies, resulting in 16,092 individuals being included in the ballot papers and registered as candidates.

Mazahir Panahov highlighted that more than half of these candidates are representatives of political parties, with 8,424 of the candidates being affiliated with political organizations. He also noted that over 31% of the registered candidates are women, marking a significant representation. Furthermore, it was revealed that 82% of the candidates possess higher education, and approximately 41% of the candidates fall within the age group of 21-35.