On March 31, 2022, an off-site meeting of the Central Election Commission was held

On March 31, 2022 an off-site meeting of the Central Election Commission for election of a deputy of the Senate of the Parliament of the Republic of Kazakhstan from the Almaty region was held under the chairmanship of Nurlan Abdirov in Taldykorgan instead of the retired one scheduled for April 22, 2022.

Chairman of the Central Election Commission Nurlan Abdirov, Secretary of the Central Election Commission Yerman Mukhtar as well as members of the CEC Sabila Mustafina and Shavkhat Utemisov participated in the meeting while on a business trip in Taldykorgan.

Deputy Chairman of the Central Election Commission Konstantin Petrov, CEC members Anastassiya Shchegortsova and Assylbek Smagulov participated in the meeting via videoconference in Nur-Sultan.

Members of territorial election commissions of Almaty region, candidates for deputies of the Senate from Almaty region, representatives of youth and mass media of the region were invited to the meeting.

Opening the meeting, Nurlan Abdirov noted that the visiting session of the CEC was held for the first time. This is due to the business trip of the Chairman and members of the Central Election Commission to the Almaty region.

The following issues were considered by members of the Central Election Commission at the meeting:

1. On the results of the nomination and registration of candidates for deputies of the Senate;

2. On establishing the amount of expenses of a candidate for deputies of the Senate of the Parliament covered from the funds of the republican budget;

3. On the production of ballots for voting;

4. On approval of Regulations on the use of functionality of the Internet resource of the Central Election Commission during elections.

 

Timur Dautov, Chairman of the Almaty Regional Election Commission spoke on the first issue of the meeting.

He reported to the members of the Central Election Commission that during the election campaign 7 candidates were nominated in the order of self-nomination, of which 1 candidate was supported by the Panfilov and Uyghur regional maslikhats.

Out of 7 candidates: 2 - employees of public associations, 2 - budgetary organizations, 1 - secretary of the regional maslikhat, 1 - civil servant, 1 - employee of the banking sector.

By party affiliation: 3 - members of the AMANAT party, 1 - a member of the Aq Zhol, 3 - did not indicate party affiliation.

By gender composition: men - 5, women - 2.

All candidates were checked for compliance with legal requirements. Based on the results of the audit it was found that 1 candidate does not live in the region, therefore he does not meet the requirements for candidates established by the Constitution of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

After checking for compliance, signature lists were issued to 6 candidates.

In accordance with the Constitutional Act on Elections a candidate for deputies of the Senate must be supported by at least ten percent of the total number of electors representing all maslikhats of the region, but not more than twenty-five percent of the votes of electors from one maslikhat.

In total, there are 359 deputies in all maslikhats of the region (1 vacancy). Therefore, each candidate must be supported by at least 36 electors..

According to Article 73 of the Constitutional Act "On Elections in the Republic of Kazakhstan" registration of candidates is carried out in the presence of the following documents:

1) statements of intent (consent) to run as a candidate for deputy;

2) the protocol of the regional election commission on the results of the verification of signatures of electors in support of the candidate;

3) biographical information about the candidate;

4) certificates of the state revenue authority on the submission by the candidate and his (her) spouse (husband) of declarations of assets and liabilities;

5) a document confirming that the candidate has made an election contribution (in the amount of 15 times the minimum wage - 900 thousand KZT).

As of March 31 this year the Regional Election Commission registered 3 candidates in Almaty.

Registration of candidates closes on April 1 at 18.00.

During the consideration of the first issue, an exchange of views took place on holding pre-election debates between candidates for deputies of the Senate. The CEC Chairman Nurlan Abdirov noted that the legislation does not provide for the organization of television debates by electoral commissions during the elections of Senate deputies. However, debates are one of the types of election campaigning and it is not prohibited. In this regard, it is necessary to take into account the possibility of holding this campaign event in the elections to the Senate.

Member of the Central Election Commission Sabila Mustafina spoke on the second issue of the meeting.

She noted that, in accordance with paragraph 3 of Article 28 of the Constitutional Act "On Elections in the Republic of Kazakhstan" the state guarantees candidates an equal allocation of funds to speak with their programs in the media.

The procedure and volumes of allocation of funds to candidates for speaking in the media are determined by the Central Election Commission.

According to the resolution of the Central Election Commission “On approval of the Rules and volumes of allocation of funds to candidates for speaking in the media” dated August 25, 2018 No. 12/202, funds are allocated for a candidate to speak with their programs in the media:

- on television - 15 minutes;

- on the radio - 10 minutes;

- for publications in printed periodicals or online publications of two articles, no more than 0.1 printed sheet.

A printed sheet should be understood as a paper sheet with a size of 60x90 cm and an area of 5400 cm2.

The volume of 0.1 printed sheet is equal to the area of 540 cm2, which is 1/4 of an A-2 newspaper page.

Based on the above, the Central Election Commission adopted a resolution «On establishing the amount of expenses of a candidate for deputies of the Senate of the Parliament of the Republic of Kazakhstan, covered from the republican budget in the elections of deputies of the Senate of the Parliament of the Republic of Kazakhstan from the Almaty region, scheduled for April 22, 2022».

The Decree established the amount of expenses of a candidate for deputies of the Senate of the Parliament in the amount of 450,000 KZT, for:

1) performances with programs on television and radio as well as publication of 2 articles in print periodicals - in the amount of 300,000 KZT;

At the same time, candidates are entitled to redistribute independently the volume of publications in print and / or online publications, television and radio channels within the funds allocated to them by the state (paragraph 4 of the CEC resolution dated August 25, 2018 No. appearances in the media).

2) holding public pre-election events and issuing campaign materials in the amount of 70,000 KZT;

3) transportation costs - in the amount of 80,000 KZT.

Calculations are based on analysis of prices offered by media and other relevant organizations.

Member of the Central Election Commission Shavkhat Utemisov made a report on the third issue.

Thus, according to the report, in accordance with subparagraph 6) of Article 12 of the Constitutional Act “On Elections in the Republic of Kazakhstan”, the Central Election Commission in accordance with its powers establishes the form of ballot papers for elections of deputies of the Senate of the Parliament the procedure for their production, as well as the degree of security.

The ballot paper shall include all registered candidates indicating the last name, first name, patronymic in alphabetical order of the state language and the line "Against all".

The form of the ballot for voting on elections of deputies of the Senate of the Parliament was approved by the Resolution of the Central Election Commission dated June 6, 2014 No. 10/233 “On approval of forms of electoral documents for the elections of deputies of the Senate of the Parliament of the Republic of Kazakhstan”.

In accordance with the legislation, ballot papers are produced with a reserve of 1 percent of the total number of voters in the constituency (electors of the region).

Based on the norms of the Constitutional Act on Elections, a resolution was adopted «On production of ballot papers for voting on election of a deputy of the Senate of the Parliament of the Republic of Kazakhstan from Almaty region instead of the retired one, scheduled for April 22, 2022». According to the resolution, the Regional Election Commission of Almaty was instructed to produce ballot papers for voting in an amount equal to the number of electors in the Almaty region, with a reserve of 1 percent of the total number of electors..

Deputy Chairman of the Central Election Commission Konstantin Petrov spoke on the fourth issue of the meeting.

In his report, he submitted a draft resolution for consideration by the members of the Central Election Commission «Оn approval of Regulations for the use of the functionality of the Internet resource of the Central Election Commission of the Republic of Kazakhstan during the elections of a deputy of the Senate of the Parliament of the Republic of Kazakhstan from the Almaty region instead of a retired one, scheduled for April 22, 2022».

According to the regulations, in order to inform interested participants in the electoral process promptly about the course of the election of a deputy of the Senate of the Parliament and to provide information on the website of the Central Election Commission in real time about the turnout of electors, preliminary voting results, it is proposed to use the additional functionality of the CEC Internet resource on voting day on April 22 2022.

The use of the functionality is based on the provision of paragraph 7 of Article 50-1 of the Constitutional Act “On Elections in the Republic of Kazakhstan”: “the procedure for using the electronic electoral system in the part not regulated by this Constitutional Act is established by the Central Election Commission.”

This system is implemented in compliance with information security, requirements of legislation on personal data and their protection.

In order to counteract possible cyber attacks and unauthorized access attempts from outside, a data exchange protocol (SSL certificate) that provides a secure connection for users of the Internet resource has been installed.

The functionality of the Internet resource of the Central Election Commission is intended for electronic registration of electors and summing up the preliminary results of voting with their display on the Internet resource of the CEC of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

In order to highlight the course of the elections on election day, banners will be available to visitors on the main page of the CEC website which display a diagram of electoral turnout and preliminary voting results.

Using the functionality of the website of the Central Election Commission of the Republic of Kazakhstan will allow from anywhere in the world to observe the progress of registration of electors and the preliminary results of voting; provide prompt information. A significant increase in site visits is also expected.

In the organizational practice of the Central Election Commission, electronic support for the elections of deputies of the Senate of the Parliament of the Republic of Kazakhstan has been carried out since 2017 and has been successfully used in the regular elections of deputies of the Senate of the Parliament of the Republic of Kazakhstan held on June 28, 2017 and August 12, 2020, as well as in the elections of deputies of the Senate of the Parliament of the Republic of Kazakhstan from Shymkent, held on October 5, 2018 and June 24, 2019.

Following the meeting, Chairman of the Central Election Commission Nurlan Abdirov stressed that the upcoming elections of the Senate deputies from the Almaty region should be held in accordance with the law and in conditions of transparency and competition. He also wished success and good luck to the candidates for Senate deputies in the election race.

Press service
Central Election Commission
of the Republic of Kazakhstan
tel.: 75-23-69
v.zheksembekova@election.gov.kz
a.berdibekov@election.gov.kz
https://twitter.com/nurlan_abdirov?s=11