Results of the registration of candidates, the approval of the rules and the amount of funds allocated to candidates for appearances in the media, the election campaigning

On May 8, 2019, a meeting of the Central Election Commission of the Republic of Kazakhstan was held, attended by representatives of a number of political parties and state authorities. The meeting addressed the following issues:

 

1. Results of the registration of candidates for the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan

2. Approval of the rules and the amount of funds allocated to candidates for appearances in the media

3. Election campaigning

Results of the registration of candidates for the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan

The CEC Deputy Chairperson Konstantin Petrov informed that the registration of candidates for the President of the Republic ends at 6 pm on May 11.

In the meantime, all the nominated candidates who meet the requirements of the Constitution and the Constitutional Act “On Elections in the Republic of Kazakhstan” were registered by the Central Election Commission before May 6, 2019.

Early completion of the registration of candidates is resulted from a number of decisions taken by the CEC to shorten the deadlines for authorized state agencies to submit information on whether a candidate meets the requirements of the legislation within two days, to shorten the deadlines for issuing signature sheets to two days, and to check the signature sheets of TECs to 5 days.

The time released for candidates will allow them to organize the activities of the offices, accumulate funds in electoral funds and better prepare for the campaigning period.

In summary, the Central Election Commission registered 7 candidates for the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan:

1. Kassym-Zhomart Tokayev was nominated by the Public Association “Nur Otan Party” on April 23, 2019.

On May 3, 2019, the CEC Resolution No. 24/257 “Registration of Kassym-Zhomart Tokayev as a candidate for President of the Republic of Kazakhstan at the early election of the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan scheduled for June 9, 2019” was adopted.

2. Sadі-Bek Tugel was nominated by the Republican Movement “Uly Dala Kyrandary” on April 22, 2019.

On May 3, 2019, the CEC RK Resolution No. 25/258 “Registration of Sadі-Bek Tugel as a candidate for the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan at the early election of the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan scheduled for June 9, 2019” was adopted.

3. Amangeldy Taspikhov was nominated by the Republican Association of Trade Unions “Federation of Trade Unions of the Republic of Kazakhstan” on April 25, 2019.

On May 4, 2019, the CEC Resolution No. 26/259 “Registration of Amangeldy Taspikhov as a candidate for the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan at the early election of the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan scheduled for June 9, 2019” was adopted.

4. Daniya Yespayeva was nominated by the Public Association “Ak Zhol Democratic Party of Kazakhstan” on April 25, 2019.

On May 4, 2019, the CEC Resolution No. 27/260 “Registration of Daniya Yespayeva as a candidate for the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan at the early election of the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan scheduled for June 9, 2019” was adopted.

5. Toleutai Rakhimbekov was nominated by the Public Association “Auyl People’s Democratic Patriotic Party” on April 26, 2019.

On May 6, 2019, the CEC Resolution No. 28/261 “Registration of Toleutai Rakhimbekov as a candidate for the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan at the early election of the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan scheduled for June 9, 2019” was adopted.

6. Zhambyl Akhmetbekov was nominated by the Public Association “Communist People’s Party of Kazakhstan” on April 26, 2019.

On May 6, 2019, the CEC Resolution No. 29/263 “Registration of Zhambyl Akhmetbekov as a candidate for the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan at the early election of the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan scheduled for June 9, 2019” was adopted.

7. Amirzhan Kossanov was nominated by the Public Association “Ult Tagdyry” National Patriotic Movement on April 27, 2019.

On May 6, 2019, the CEC Resolution No. 30/264 “Registration of Amirzhan Kossanov as a candidate for the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan at the early election of the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan scheduled for June 9, 2019” was adopted.

The beginning of the election campaigning, which follows the registration period, starts after 6 pm local time on May 11, 2019.

The Deputy Chairperson also told about the applications received from individuals and legal entities.

In total, the CEC has currently received 60 applications, of which 25 were received during the registration phase of the presidential candidates, of which: 21 were from individuals; 4 - from legal entities. The applications were received through postal envelopes, the e-government portal, by e-mail of the Central Election Commission and by courier.

By nature, the applications were distributed as follows: the organization of the electoral process (17); clarifications on the electoral legislation (8).

Approval of the rules and the amount of funds allocated to candidates for appearances in the media

Secretary of the Central Election Commission Sabila Mustafina informed that according to the Resolution No. 12/202 of the Central Election Commission “Approval of the rules and the amount of funds allocated to candidates for appearances in the media” of August 25, 2018, funds are allocated to a candidate for the presentation of his/her programs in the media:

· Television – 15 minutes;

· Radio – 10 minutes;

· Publications in printed periodicals or online publications - two articles of not more than 0.1 printed sheet.

The republican budget also covers the expenses of candidates for: holding public election campaigns; release of campaign materials; transportation costs in the amount established by the Central Election Commission.

Based on the above, a resolution was adopted by the Central Election Commission “Establishing the amount of expenses of a candidate for the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan, covered from the republican budget at the early election of the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan, scheduled for June 9, 2019”.

The Resolution establishes the amount of expenses of a candidate for the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan in the amount of 7,331,200 (seven million three hundred thirty one thousand two hundred) KZT.

During the presentation, the Secretary also briefed about the election funds of candidates.

The Election Fund of the presidential candidate consists of:

1) the candidate’s own funds and funds allocated to the candidate by the republican public association that nominated him/her, the total amount not exceeding the statutory minimum wage by more than twelve thousand times, which is 510,000,000 (five hundred ten million) KZT;

2) voluntary donations of citizens and organizations of the Republic of Kazakhstan, the total amount of which does not exceed the statutory minimum wage by more than fifteen thousand times, which is 637,500,000 (six hundred thirty-seven million five hundred thousand) KZT.

Funds received in excess of the established amount will not be admitted to the election funds and will be returned to citizens and organizations who donated them.

Anonymous donations are transferred to the republican budget.

Only funds received legally can be directed to the election funds.

The right to dispose of the funds of the election fund belongs exclusively to candidates for the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

In the event that a candidate withdraws his/her candidacy or revokes a decision to register as a candidate, the money received by the election fund shall be returned to citizens and organizations who donated them. In this case, the costs associated with the return of these funds are covered by the citizens and organizations who donated them.

No later than five calendar days after the establishment of the election results, the candidate must submit to the Central Election Commission a report on the use of funds of his/her election fund, which indicates the sources of cash flows to the election fund and all costs incurred.

Within ten days after the publication of the election results, the Central Election Commission publishes in the media information on the total amount of money received by the election fund and its sources.

At the same time, the Halyk Savings Bank provides the CEC with a weekly report on the funds received for special accounts and their spending.

The report on the funds received for special accounts and their spending is published in the media twice a month by the Central Election Commission.

All financial transactions related to special accounts shall be discontinued at 6 pm of the day preceding the election day.

Violation by a candidate of these regulations of the electoral legislation and the Rules for opening a special temporary account and spending of funds of the election fund entails the cancellation of the decision to register the candidate.

 

Election campaigning

A report on the election campaigning was made by Deputy Chairperson Konstantin Petrov.

According to the electoral legislation, election campaigning is an activity aimed at encouraging voters to take part in voting for or against a particular candidate.

The state guarantees citizens and public associations the right to campaign freely for or against a candidate or political party.

The legislation provides for categories of subjects who are prohibited from campaigning. These include:

1) state bodies, local authorities, as well as their officials on duty;

2) military personnel of the Armed Forces, other troops and military formations, employees of national security agencies, law enforcement agencies and judges;

3) members of election commissions;

4) religious associations;

5) foreigners, stateless persons, foreign legal entities and international organizations.

Campaigning is carried out in three main ways:

1) through the media;

2) through public election campaign events, as well as personal meetings of candidates and their proxies with voters;

3) through the production and distribution of printed, audiovisual and other campaign materials.

The first is campaigning through the media.

The electoral legislation of the Republic of Kazakhstan does not consider mass media as independent subjects of election campaigning. This means that the media, in addition to the party media, are not entitled to declare their support for a particular candidate, as well as to campaign for or against him/her.

The state guarantees equal conditions of access to the media for election campaigning.

Therefore, in accordance with clause 3 of Article 28 of the Constitutional Act On Elections and clause 7 of the Calendar Plan, approved by a resolution of the CEC of the Republic of Kazakhstan, information on the amount of payment, conditions and procedures for the provision of air and print space should be announced and published by the appropriate media no later than 5 days before the start of the election campaigning – on May 5, 2019, and also submitted to the CEC for posting on its Internet resource.

Currently, the CEC has received 139 informational messages from the media; all messages are posted on the CEC website.

The terms of the contract on the provision of candidates with airtime and print space in the media should not create an advantage to a particular candidate or political party.

Consent to the allocation of airtime and print space, given to one of the candidates, is the consent to the allocation of airtime and print space to other candidates.

The order of the appearances of candidates in the media is set in accordance with the order of receipt of written applications, or by lot in case the applications are received simultaneously.

All publications of periodicals, TV and radio programs containing the election campaigning of candidates should contain information about the sources of funding.

It is forbidden to interrupt and comment on the statements of candidates on television and radio immediately after the speech, as well as in print publications in the same issue.

Presidential candidates, when providing campaign materials to the media, should ensure their compliance with the requirements of the Constitution and the electoral legislation.

Presidential candidates and political parties that nominated them have the right to participate in election TV debates organized by the Central Election Commission.

The second way of campaigning is the public election campaign events, as well as personal meetings of candidates and their proxies with voters.

Local executive bodies and local governments provide candidates on a contractual basis with premises for meetings with voters. Conditions for the provision of premises should be uniform and equal for all candidates.

The election commissions, together with local executive bodies and local self-government bodies, draw up a schedule of meetings of candidates with voters in the allocated premises and publish it in the mass media.

When conducting public election campaigns, it is important to remember that free of charge distribution of printed, including illustrative, materials, as well as badges, flags and banners, specially made for the election campaign, is permitted. All the rest - the provision by the voter of free or concessional goods, services, securities, as well as the holding of lotteries, charity events, payment of money or the promise of providing such - is recognized as improper campaigning, which is prohibited.

Since the announcement of elections, candidates and political parties, and any individuals and legal entities on their behalf or in their support, are prohibited from holding charity events, with the exception of organizing entertainment and sports events.

The third way of campaigning is through the production and distribution of printed, audiovisual and other campaign materials.

An equal amount of money is provided to candidates for the publication of posters, leaflets and other printed campaign materials.

All printed campaign materials should contain the following information:

· about the organization that issued these materials,

· about the place of their printing,

· number of copies printed,

· the persons who made the order,

· and about the sources of payment.

It is prohibited to produce printed campaign materials outside the territory of the Republic of Kazakhstan, as well as to distribute anonymous campaign materials.

Local executive bodies, together with the relevant election commissions, shall determine the places for the placement of printed campaign materials for all candidates and equip them with stands, boards and pedestals. Campaign printed materials are placed under conditions that ensure equal rights for all candidates.

Candidates are entitled to post campaign print materials in other places with the permission of the owner of the relevant venue.

It is prohibited to post campaign materials on monuments, obelisks, buildings and constructions of historical, cultural or architectural value, as well as in the polling station.

All individuals and legal entities that provide a candidate and a political party with services associated with the conduct of election campaigning must have their written consent to accept the service. Persons who do not have a written consent shall be liable in accordance with the laws of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

In 2018, the Constitutional Act on Elections was significantly amended and supplemented with respect to the issues of election campaigning through the media. In order to implement new rules on these issues, the CEC adopted 4 resolutions on August 25, 2018.

The first. Rules for election campaigning through the media and information support for the election of the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan, members of the Parliament, Maslikhats of the Republic of Kazakhstan, as well as members of other local government bodies (Resolution No. 12/203, registered by the Ministry of Justice on October 4, 2018, No. 17484).

These Rules define the procedure for election campaigning through the media, indicate the order and conditions for the provision of airtime and print space for appearances of candidates and political parties that have nominated party lists, with electoral programs funded by the state, as well as on a contractual basis.

The second. The rules and conditions for holding election debates (Resolution No. 12/198, registered by the Ministry of Justice on September 26, 2018, No. 17434).

These Rules regulate the timing for the determination of TV channels where debates will be held, approval of the list of debaters and persons present during the debates, the order of appearance in debates, the rights and duties of the debate’s host and debaters, the language of the debates and the retention period for the debates’ records.

The procedure and conditions for the conduct of election debates should be equal and not create advantages for a particular candidate or political party.

The third. Rules and amounts of funds allocated to candidates for appearances in the mass media (Resolution No. 12/202, registered by the Ministry of Justice on September 25, 2018, No. 17426);

Within the framework of the Rules, the state guarantees equal allocation of funds for the presentation of their programs in the mass media. Each candidate is provided with funds for a 15-minute speech on television, a 10-minute speech on the radio and for publication of two articles in print publications.

Candidates, by themselves, redistribute the volume of publications in print and/or online editions, TV and radio channels within the funds allocated by the state for the presentation of their programs.

The fourth. The rules and the volume of placement by periodic print publications of messages of election commissions at the expense of funds provided by the republican and local budgets (Resolution No. 12/201, registered by the Ministry of Justice on October 2, 2018, No. 17463).

These Rules regulate the procedure and volume for placement of messages of election commissions by periodicals.

Public opinion polls

In accordance with the requirements of the Constitutional Act on Elections, public opinion polls may be conducted by legal entities registered in accordance with the legislation of the Republic of Kazakhstan who have at least five years of experience in conducting public opinion polls, and who have notified the CEC in writing with attachments of relevant documents. The notification sent to the CEC contains information on the specialists participating in the poll, who have experience in this field, on the regions in which public opinion polls will be conducted, and on the methods of analysis applied.

The ban on publishing, within five days before election day and on election day, the results of public opinion polls, forecasts of election results, other research related to elections, voting in support of candidates or political parties, now extends to the Internet.

Persons, who conduct polls, should not use Internet resources, social networks and instant messengers to publish results during the prohibited period. This regulation is designed to prevent manipulation of public opinion, in particular, by creating and distributing fake messages on the Internet.

Violation of the conditions for conducting a public opinion poll and publishing its results is grounds for bringing the person to administrative responsibility (Article 120 of the Administrative Offences Code).

Campaigning on the Internet

In accordance with sub-clause (4) of Article 1 of the Law of the Republic of Kazakhstan “On Mass Media”, Internet resources are also mass media, i.e. they are subject to all the provisions of the electoral legislation, and, therefore, monitoring the placement of campaign materials on Internet resources will be carried out by analogy with print media.

Vice-Minister of Information and Social Development of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Nurgul Mauberlinova, and Deputy Prosecutor General of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Bulat Dembayev, also made presentations on the election campaigning.