On April 25, 2022, a working trip of the Chairman of the Central Election Commission Nurlan Abdirov took place to the East Kazakhstan region

As part of a working trip to the East Kazakhstan region, Chairman of the Central Election Commission Nurlan Abdirov held a number of meetings with the public.

On April 25, 2022, in the building of the Central House of Culture "Yertis Concert" a large meeting of the head of the CEC with representatives of political parties, NGOs, media, public opinion leaders, bloggers, members of the election commissions of the East Kazakhstan region was held. The event was attended by 396 people.

A thorough conversation took place during which the electoral reforms voiced in the Message of President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev to the people of Kazakhstan dated March 16, 2022 were discussed.

The deputy of the city maslikhat Aktai Askerkhan spoke in support of proposed innovations and stressed that in the context of electoral reforms it is important to improve the electoral culture of voters.

Discussions on the introduction of electronic voting, ensuring openness and transparency of work of territorial and precinct election commissions, holding debates during the elections of rural akims and using social networks as campaign platforms were held.

Yelena Berezinskaya, Chairman of the Regional Council of Business Women noted that recently the number of people wishing to become observers has grown significantly. Nevertheless, the observer must be prepared for professional observation, understand how election process goes. This raises the question of which organizations should train observers. Representatives of the Central Election Commission noted that the task of any public associations and political parties that send observers is to prepare them as much as possible. Therefore, the training of observers should be carried out by coach-trainers and qualified lawyers specializing in electoral law.

The public has put forward a proposal to update the composition of election commissions before the elections. At the same time, some participants noted that complete renewal of territorial and precinct election commissions is inefficient from the point of view of rational management. In the modern period, the election commissions have accumulated certain experience, conducted various election campaigns and training is conducted on a systematic basis in the inter-electoral period. Therefore, it is necessary to effectively use the existing personnel potential of election commissions.

NSDP representative Viktor Kalgin proposed to simplify requirements for candidates for rural akims in terms of the requirement to have a higher education and length of service in the public service. Other participants expressed the opinion that in order to work with legal acts and accounting, rural akims need to have the appropriate education and certain experience. With the introduction of the fourth level budget, rural akims manage financial resources independently. Therefore, education and professional skills play an important role.

The chairman of the Public Council of Ust-Kamenogorsk, Inessa Chernysheva, made an appeal not to allow the use of illegal manipulative technologies in election campaigns, because Modern processes of globalization of the information space carry potential threats of external interference in the electoral process.

The meeting of the CEC Chairman with students of universities and colleges was held at the East Kazakhstan University named after S. Amanzholov with the participation of 285 people.

A thorough exchange of views took place on various issues of improving the electoral process including the involvement of young people in the electoral process.

In the format of an open dialogue, young people received answers to questions of interest related to the mixed electoral system during the elections of deputies of the Mazhilis and maslikhats.

Student Vadim Drepin shared his experience of participating in 2021 in the Republican Olympiad among students of universities in Kazakhstan "Electoral systems of the countries of the world" organized by the CEC and suggested holding such events on a systematic basis.

Also, as in other regions the issue of introducing electronic voting was actively discussed. The youth noted that at present many countries have tested electronic voting, its various forms are expanding, including remote, multi-day and early voting. In this regard, it is proposed to study world experience and introduce this type of voting gradually.

Student Ayaulym Karkyn expressed her desire to become a volunteer and observer in future electoral processes and noted the need to involve young people in election commissions.

During the meeting, an online survey was conducted on topical issues of the electoral process. The results of the survey among young people showed the following: 34.2% of respondents support the introduction of electronic (remote) voting; 69.6% of respondents believe that a candidate for the President of the country must know the state language and a linguistic exam is mandatory; 53.8% of the respondents answered that a citizen who had a criminal record cannot be nominated for elected positions of the President, deputy, akim. Also, 44% of respondents answered that a deputy elected on a party list cannot change his party affiliation.

Also on this day, representatives of the Central Election Commission held a training seminar for members of territorial and precinct election commissions.

Meetings of the Chairman of the Central Election Commission with the public and youth of the East Kazakhstan region as in other regions were broadcast on social networks.

The next working trip of Nurlan Abdirov is scheduled to the Karaganda region on April 26-27 this year.

Press service
Central Election Commission
of the Republic of Kazakhstan
tel.: 75-23-69
v.zheksembekova@election.gov.kz
a.berdibekov@election.gov.kz
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