Azerbaijan Announces Election Results a Day Before Polls Open

Rigging a vote is easy; creating an accurate voting app is that bit harder

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David Mdzinarishvili / Reuters

A man looks at the voters list at the polling station during the presidential elections in the village of Nardaran, some 35 km (22 miles) north-east of Baku, October 9, 2013.

While analysts were hardly expecting free or fair elections in Azerbaijan on Wednesday, a technical glitch meant that “results” were released the day before everyone actually voted.

According to an authorized smartphone app managed by the country’s Central Election Commission, Azerbaijan’s incumbent strongman President Ilham Aliyev was on his way to an electoral rout on Tuesday with more than 70% of the vote — the day before elections commenced.

The results were immediately recalled with the app’s developers claiming that they accidentally released the previous contest’s figures. Not that it mattered much. Aliyev went on to win in sweeping fashion, this time with 85% of the vote. He labeled his victory “a triumph for democracy”.

[Washington Post]