On March 4 - 5, 2022, a working trip of the Chairman of the Central Election Commission Nurlan Abdirov took place to the Aktobe region

The Chairman of the Central Election Commission held a number of meetings with the public on the issues of the electoral process as part of a working trip to the Aktobe region.

On March 4, 2022, Nurlan Abdirov met with representatives of political parties, NGOs, the media, opinion leaders, bloggers, public organizations of people with disabilities and members of the region's election commissions. The event was attended by 320 people.

Issues on reforming the electoral system and electoral processes, increasing the level of confidence in the institution of elections were discussed at the meeting.

Special attention was paid to improving electoral legislation, its enforcement in organization and conduct of elections, ensuring openness and transparency of the work of territorial and precinct election commissions. Representatives of the public proposed the introduction of a mixed electoral system during the elections of deputies of the Mazhilis and maslikhats.

In addition, the issue of prospects for the possibility of electronic voting using electronic digital signature technologies was raised.

Also, the participants of the meeting proposed to conduct training of national observers on a systematic basis since through public observation the openness and transparency of the electoral process is ensured.

In turn, Nurlan Abdirov noted that the CEC is taking appropriate measures to train electoral participants in the electoral process, including independent observers. Since January 2022, the Center for Electoral Education has started working as part of the Academy of Public Administration under the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

This year, it is planned to train more than 700 trainers from all regions of Kazakhstan for 11 target groups for further electoral training in the regions. Trained coaches will educate representatives of their target groups in the regions using a cascade method.

On the same day, the Chairman of the Central Election Commission met with public organizations for the protection of the rights of people with disabilities in the Aktobe region. The meeting was held at the “Ten Kogam” Center for Social Support for Persons with Disabilities.

Opening the meeting, he noted that one of the most important tasks of the Central Election Commission is to provide all the necessary conditions for the implementation of the electoral rights of citizens with disabilities. Therefore, the CEC pays special attention to this area. Since 2017, the Working Group on Ensuring the Electoral Rights of Persons with Disabilities has been functioning under it.

Nurlan Abdirov also stressed that at the initiative of the Head of State the electoral legislation now provides for the inclusion of persons with disabilities in the mandatory 30% quota along with women and youth when forming party lists for elections to the Mazhilis.

Public figure, Hero of Labor of Kazakhstan, chairman of the NGO "Center for Support of Paralyzed Citizens of Aktobe" Kuralay Baymenova noted that most representatives of public organizations of the disabled actively interact with electoral authorities on creating conditions for voters with disabilities and also take part in public observation.

In addition, the meeting participants raised a number of issues on implementation of active and passive suffrage, the physical accessibility of polling stations and their equipment taking into account the needs of voters with disabilities, as well as creation of special visual, graphic materials using Braille.

The head of the Aktobe Regional Society of the Disabled Almas Zhantekenov is positively assessing the work of the CEC in organizing this meeting, which in his opinion is one of the most effective steps towards building a society of equal opportunities in the context of the policy of the Head of State "Zhana Kazakhstan".

Following the meeting, the head of the CEC expressed gratitude to the representatives of public organizations of persons with disabilities for the substantive dialogue and noted that the Central Election Commission would continue to improve the set of measures to ensure the electoral rights of such persons.

Together with local executive bodies he also instructed the Chairman of the Aktobe Regional Election Commission to work out the issue of physical accessibility of polling stations for persons with disabilities.

On March 5, 2022, Nurlan Abdirov held a meeting with the youth of the Aktobe region. The meeting was held at the “Zhubanovtar Alemi” Cultural Center in Aktobe.

A meaningful exchange of views took place on topical issues of participation of region's youth in electoral processes on prospects for using electronic voting, developing the institution of young observers as well as increasing the electoral activity of young people.

At the meeting, a student of the Aktobe Regional University named after K. Zhubanov Kamilya Zinelgapparova shared her experience of participating in the international Olympiad "Electoral systems of the countries of the world", organized by the IPA CIS. The International Olympiad was held on December 2, 2021 in St. Petersburg as part of the Youth Parliamentary School of the IPA CIS. According to the results of the Olympiad, K. Zinelgapparova became the winner of the Olympiad among students of universities of the CIS member states.

In addition, discussions on qualities of candidates for akims of the rural level were held. Youth representatives were strongly in favor of candidates having higher education, experience in public service or elected positions. Zhadyra Yeleuova noted that akims should be an example of justice, openness and honesty. Therefore, qualification requirements allow the population to choose the best of the best. Being the akim of a rural district is a huge responsibility to society.

The meeting participants also expressed their positions regarding electronic voting. According to Murat Kuanysh, a student of the Faculty of Physics and Mathematics of the Aktobe Regional University named after K. Zhubanov the opportunity to vote using various gadgets will be positively perceived by young people. This will increase the participation of young voters in the electoral process.

At the same time, other participants noted that electronic voting may be associated with certain risks of a cyber attack, as well as the use of voters' personal data by intruders. Therefore, it is necessary to ensure the protection of this process from any possible threats.

Youth representative Nurgali Yeleusizov stressed that today such an electronic format can only be used as an additional voting method, since at the moment not all settlements of the country have access to high-quality Internet. In his opinion, the form of electronic voting should only complement the traditional form of voting.

Following the meeting, representatives of youth of the region expressed their gratitude to the leadership of the Central Election Commission for the meeting, noting that such dialogue platforms will become one of the effective mechanisms for increasing the confidence of young voters in the elections.

The Chairman of the Central Election Commission in turn called on young people to be active participants in the electoral process, to act not only as voters but also to participate in volunteer activities, to take part in election observation.

On the same day, the Chairman of the Central Election Commission visited the rural district Kos Estek in Kargaly region where he got acquainted with the work of the akim on the development of the village.

The Chairman of the Central Election Commission also met with the villagers.

During the meeting, residents expressed their positive opinion on the introduction of direct elections of village akims and also spoke about the peculiarities of campaigning by candidates in the village.

They noted that personal meetings of candidates with voters in rural areas are the main type of pre-election campaign.

Following the meeting, the Chairman of the Central Election Commission emphasized that organization and conduct of elections of rural akims should be carried out in accordance with the requirements of the law.

He also recommended the Chairman of the Aktobe Regional Election Commission to work out the issue initiated by the meeting participants of holding pre-election debates in rural districts with the participation of all candidates for akims.

All meetings of the Chairman of the Central Election Commission with the public of the Aktobe region as in other regions were broadcast online on the official page of the Regional Communications Service on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/rsk_aktobe/.

Press service

Central Election Commission

of the Republic of Kazakhstan

tel. 75-23-69

v.zheksembekova@election.gov.kz