Ballot boxes, Kazakh flag and state seal in an Astana polling place before the 2007 legislative elections.
Elections in Kazakhstan are held on a national level to elect a President and the Parliament, which is divided into two bodies, the Majilis (Lower House) and the Senate (Upper House). Local elections for maslihats (local representative bodies) are held every five years.[1]
None of the elections held in Kazakhstan have been considered free or fair by Western countries or international observers[4] with issues noted including ballot tampering,[5][6]multiple voting,[6]repression of opposition candidates[7] and press censorship.[8] However, robust reforms have been implemented since 2019 and the OSCE ODI stated in its post-2021 parliamentary election report that "candidates were able to campaign freely."[9] The OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights has deployed election monitors to Kazakhstan at the invitation of the government for observation of parliamentary and presidential elections since 1999.[10]
In a follow-up to the announcement of the exit polls, the Central Election Commission (CEC) announced that it would present preliminary results of the election in a subsequent briefing on 21 November 2022 at 11:00.[11] From there, the preliminary results showed Tokayev winning an overwhelming 81.3% majority of the vote, a higher margin in comparison to 2019, followed by Dairabaev who had garnered only 3.4%, thus making him the second-place frontrunner in the race and the first candidate to receive less than 5% of the vote since Turgyn Syzdyqov in 2015.[12][13] The overall voter turnout had reached 69.4%, the lowest number of any in the presidential elections of Kazakhstan.[12] For the first time since 1999, the ballot column "Against all" was reincluded in the election, to which 5.8% of Kazakh voters had cast their votes, making it the second overall most picked ballot column.[14]
The following day the CEC confirmed the final results of the election by approving the voting protocols and certifying Tokayev's reelection win,[15][16] who essentially became the president-elect.[17][18]
Turnout was low in the two largest cities, with less than 30% of voters from Almaty participating, and less than half of voters from Astana participating. Turnout was higher elsewhere, ranging from almost 60% in Shymkent to over 81% in the newly formed Jetisu Region.[20]
In the early morning of 20 March 2023, the Central Election Commission (CEC) announced the preliminary election results summed up from electronic copies of the voting result protocols by the territorial and district election commissions.[28] From there, the ruling Amanat party had officially won majority of 53.9% of the proportional vote share, marking it one of the worst performances for the party since the 1999 legislative election.[29] In the constituencies, the preliminary results showed the Amanat party winning an overwhelming majority of 22 seats (+1 independent candidate affiliated with the party) out of a total of 29 contested seats, leaving the rest of seven mandates to be won by independents in their representing electoral districts.[30][31][32]
The final results of the 2023 legislative election were published by the CEC on 27 March 2023, revealing the upcoming seating composition of the 8th Majilis according to party-list, with the ruling Amanat party winning 40 seats, followed by Auyl with 8 seats, Respublica and Aq Jol with 6 seats each, the People's Party of Kazakhstan (QHP) with 5 seats, and the self-declared opposition Nationwide Social Democratic Party (JSDP) secured 4 seats, while Baytaq failed to surpass the 5% electoral threshold.[33][34]
Prior to the 2012 parliamentary elections, many Kazakh voters were offered a choice of voting on electronic voting machines or on paper ballots. At least some of the ballot boxes used in Kazakhstan are transparent in order to defend against ballot box stuffing. Each polling place was equipped with both a large ballot box and smaller mobile ballot boxes. The latter are designed to be carried, by poll-workers, to voters outside the polling place.[45] This is an alternative to offering absentee ballots or proxy voting for voters with disabilities that prevent them from going to the polls.
Electronic voting in Kazakhstan is based on the AIS "Sailau" electronic voting system developed in Belarus and Kazakhstan. This system is best described as an indirect-recording electronic voting system, as opposed to the DRE voting machines that have been more widely studied.[46] In this system, the touch-screen voting terminal in the voting booth serves as a ballot marking device, recording selections on a smart card. The voting terminal itself retains no record of the vote after the voter takes the smart card. The voter then takes the smart card containing the cast ballot record to the computer at the registration table that serves as the electronic ballot box where the permanent record of the vote is retained and tabulated.
On November 16, 2011, Kuandyk Turgankulov, head of the Central Election Commission, said that the Sailau system would be discontinued because the voters prefer paper ballots, the political parties do not trust it, and the country lacks the funds required to update the system.[47]
Election financing
Candidates for elected office in Kazakhstan can receive state financial support to cover campaign costs.[48] In Senate elections, each candidate receives about $2,170.
In Senate races, the state budget pays for each candidate’s 15-minute TV address (115 thousand tenge, approx. $303), 10 minutes on the radio (60 thousand tenge, approx. $158), 2 articles in the media (105 thousand tenge, approx. $276), hall rent for meeting with the voters (20 thousand tenge, approx. $53), publication of printed campaign materials (25 thousand tenge, approx. $66) and traveling (for Oblasts - 70 thousand tenge, approx. $184; for Astana and Almaty cities - 35 thousand tenge, approx. $92).
Observation
There have been several international election observation missions organised in Kazakhstan. The OSCE has observed the elections.
Kazakhstan's president is elected by the people and serves a single seven-year term.
Term limits were removed for the incumbent Nursultan Nazarbayev on 18 May 2007, when parliament also voted to reduce the term length from seven to five years.[52]
Early presidential elections were called by President Nazarbayev and were held on April 26, 2015.[53] President Barack Obama sent a letter to President Nazarbayev congratulating him on his reelection in the April 26 election.[54]
After President Nazarbayev' resignation in March 2019,[55] snap presidential elections were held on June 9, 2019 with former Senate Chair Kassym-Jomart Tokayev emerging as the winner.[56] In September 2022, the parliament approved changing the term length from five to seven years while lowering the amount of terms to one.[57] In the same month, early presidential elections were called for 20 November 2022.[58]
The Senate has 50 members, 40 of whom are elected to six-year terms by delegates from the 17 provinces and three national cities, half of whom are elected every three years, and 10 are appointed by the President of Kazakhstan.
Municipal elections
Citizens for the first time voted to elect local officials on July 25, 2021. Officials were previously appointed to their positions.[59]
International criticisms
As of March 2015, none of the elections held in Kazakhstan have been considered free or fair by Western countries or international observers.[4] The 1999 Presidential election attracted criticism from the United States and the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) who considered that harassment and intimidation of opposition candidates and supporters and the disqualification of an opponent of Nazarbayev[60] had made a meaningful election impossible. The OSCE criticised the 2011 presidential election, citing a lack of press freedom, transparency and competition.[61] Following the 2005 election, they noted a number of issues, including ballot tampering, multiple voting, intimidation and harassment of opposition candidates and their supporters, media bias and official restrictions on free expression.[62]
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
