A meeting was held at the Central Election Commission of the Republic of Kazakhstan within the framework of the election campaign of deputies of the Senate of the Parliament of the Republic of Kazakhstan

On July 24, 2020 the Central Election Commission of the Republic of Kazakhstan held a meeting at which there were considered four issues within the framework of the election campaign of deputies of the Senate of the Parliament of the Republic of Kazakhstan:

1) «On the results of registration of candidates for deputies of the Senate of the Parliament of the Republic of Kazakhstan at the elections of deputies of the Senate of the Parliament of the Republic of Kazakhstan, scheduled for August 12, 2020».

2) «On the production of ballot papers for elections of deputies of the Senate of the Parliament of the Republic of Kazakhstan, scheduled for August 12, 2020».

3) «On approval of the Recommendations on preventing the spread of coronavirus infection during elections of deputies of the Senate of the Parliament of the Republic of Kazakhstan».

4) «On some issues relating to the activities of observers from foreign states, international organizations, representatives of foreign media at the elections of deputies of the Senate of the Parliament of the Republic of Kazakhstan, scheduled for August 12, 2020».

Chairmen of territorial election commissions reported the results of registration of candidates for deputies of the Senate of the Parliament of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

As of 6 pm on July 23, 2020, the election commissions of oblasts and the cities of Nur-Sultan, Almaty, and Shymkent registered 58 candidates out of 94 nominated candidates for 17 mandates of the Senate of the Parliament of the Republic of Kazakhstan. On average, 3 people apply for one seat. Among the regions, the largest number of candidates was registered in the city of Nur-Sultan and Akmola oblast – 5 people.

Among the registered candidates there are 48 (82.8%) men and 10 (17.2%) women (compared to: in 2017 there were 47 (90.7%) men and 5 (9.3%) women, in 2014 – 51 (96.1%) men and 2 (3.9%) women).

The Chairman of the Central Election Commission of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Mr. Berik Imashev, has noted that the political activity of women remains strong. Among the registered candidates there are 10 women, which makes 17.2%. This indicator has almost doubled compared to the previous election campaign.

Distribution by specialties: 19 engineers, 13 economists, 8 teachers, 7 agricultural workers, 5 doctors, 3 lawyers, 1 political scientist, and 2 others.

Among candidates there are 21 employees of business entities; 16 employees of governmental organizations, enterprises, and institutions; 12 civil servants, 5 representatives of civic organizations, and 4 incumbent senators.

All the registered candidates for deputies of the Senate have the right to start their pre-election campaigning at 6 pm on July 23 which may last till the midnight on August 11 of the current year.

Legislation guarantees equal conditions to campaigning for the candidates for deputies of the Senate.

The Secretary of the Central Election Commission of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Mrs. Sabila Mustafina, made a report on the production of ballot papers for the election of deputies of the Senate of the Parliament of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

According to the report, the ballot paper design was approved by the decree of the Central Election Commission No. 10/233 dated June 6, 2014 as amended by the resolution of the Central Election Commission No. 33/129 dated April 26, 2016.

In accordance with paragraph 2 of the Article 37 of the Constitutional Act of the Republic of Kazakhstan "On Elections in the Republic of Kazakhstan", ballot papers are produced in an amount equal to the number of voters in an electoral district with a reserve of 1 percent from the total number of voters in an electoral district.

In this regard, there was adopted a resolution "On the production of ballot papers for the elections of deputies of the Senate of the Parliament of the Republic of Kazakhstan, scheduled for August 12, 2020". According to the resolution, the election commissions of the oblasts and the cities of Nur-Sultan, Almaty and Shymkent were instructed to produce ballot papers in accordance with the number of electors of the corresponding administrative-territorial unit.

As part of the third issue of the meeting, the member of the CEC of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Mr. Serik Sydykov, informed that the Central Election Commission, together with the Chief State Sanitary Doctor of the Republic of Kazakhstan, had developed and signed "Recommendations for preventing the spread of coronavirus infection during elections of deputies of the Senate of the Parliament of the Republic of Kazakhstan".

At the same time, the Chairman of the CEC of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Mr. Berik Imashev, noted that the epidemiological conditions in the regions differ, therefore, the main decisions on specific measures to ensure the sanitary safety of the electoral process shall be made by the territorial election commissions together with the Chief State Sanitary Physicians.

The member of the Central Election Commission of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Mrs. Anastasia Shchegortsova, made a final report on the activities of observers of foreign states, international organizations, representatives of foreign media at the elections of deputies of the Senate of the Parliament of the Republic of Kazakhstan, scheduled for August 12, 2020.

Considering such factors as the international commitments of Kazakhstan, the electoral practice of other countries, as well as the presence of permanently accredited foreign media and diplomatic corps in the country, the Central Election Commission of the Republic of Kazakhstan has adopted a resolution to open the institution of international observation.

The CEC resolution provides that:

- observers of foreign states and international organizations are accredited to the CEC on the recommendation of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan;

- a representative of a foreign media can observe the elections if there is an accreditation certificate issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs;

- foreign observers have the right to be accompanied by an interpreter;

- the accreditation ends at 6 pm local time five days before the voting day, i.e. on August 6, 2020.