On May 17, a meeting of the Central Referendum Commission on the organisation and holding of the republican referendum was held

On May 17 this year , a meeting of the Central Referendum Commission was held.

The meeting was attended by representatives of the Ministry of Digital Development, Innovation and Aerospace Industry, and the media. T he heads of administrations of akimats of the regions, the cities of Nur-Sultan, Almaty and Shymkent and members of the territorial commissions of the referendum took part in the videoconferencing mode.

Three items on the agenda were considered during the meeting:

1. On the work carried out by local executive bodies on the material and technical equipment of polling stations, the creation of conditions to ensure the rights of persons with disabilities, to provide lists of citizens entitled to participate in the republican referendum to the referendum commissions;

2. On establishing the number of ballots for voting during the republican referendum scheduled for June 5, 2022;

3. On the procedure for voting at the republican referendum scheduled for June 5, 2022 and summing up the results.

On the first issue of the meeting, the heads of administrations of akimats of the regions, cities of Nur-Sultan, Almaty and Shymkent provided reports . Representatives of akimats reported on the work done on the material and technical equipment of polling stations, the creation of conditions to ensure the rights of persons with disabilities.

Chairman of the CRC of the Republic of Kazakhstan Nurlan Abdirov noted that in total 10,013 polling stations will be involved in the republican referendum.

Following the consideration of the first issue, Nurlan Abdirov stressed that all issues related to the organi s ation of the voting day, to the competence of local executive bodies, shall be resolved without fail and be under special control.

The Chairman of the CRC of the Republic of Kazakhstan paid special attention to the issue of providing conditions for citizens with special needs. “It is necessary to further work out the issues of invataxi, involvement, if necessary, sign language interpreters, and other possible measures for the convenience of citizens with disabilities,” Nurlan Abdirov said.

Secretary of the Central Referendum Commission Mukhtar Yerman spoke on the second issue of the agenda.

The speaker said that according to Article 27 of the Constitutional Law “ On the Republican Referendum, ” the procedure for the production of ballot s shall be determined by the Central Referendum Commission.

Based on the norms of the Constitutional Law, a resolution of the Central Referendum Commission “On establishing the number of ballots for voting during the republican referendum scheduled for June 5, 2022” was adopted.

Lists of citizens who have the right to participate in the republican referendum, in accordance with the procedure established by the C onstitutional Act o n E lections, shall be submitted to the referendum commission s signed by the relevant akim, by whose decision the polling stations were formed.

According to the information provided and reports of representatives of the akimats of the regions, the cities of Nur-Sultan, Almaty, Shymkent, local executive bodies in the Republic included 11,722,536 citizens in the lists.

Resolution of the Central Referendum Commission dated May 6, 2022 , No. 33/488 “On Certain Issues of Producing Ballots for Voting during the Republican Referendum Scheduled for June 5, 2022” established that voting ballots shall be produced in a quantity equal to the number of citizens included in the list, eligible to vote in the referendum, with a n excess of one percent. Consequently, voting ballots in the amount of 11,839,761 units shall be subject to production.

P roduction of voting ballots in the prescribed quantity and delivery to the referendum precincts within the period stipulated by the legislation shall be entrusted to the referendum commissions of region s , cities of republican significance and the capital of the Republic.

Territorial referendum commissions shall ensure the production of voting ballots in the prescribed quantity by May 28, 2022 for the delivery of ballots to referendum polling stations.

Deputy Chairman of the Central Referendum Commission Konstantin Petrov delivered a report on the third item on the agenda.

Konstantin Petrov reported in detail on the procedure for voting at the republican referendum scheduled for June 5, 2022 and summari s ing the results.

Article 29 of the Constitutional Law “ On the Republican Referendum ” provides that the time, place, organi s ation and procedure for voting in a referendum shall be determined in accordance with the rules established by the Constitutional Act “ On Elections in the Republic of Kazakhstan. ”

Voting time. On June 5, 2022, voting shall take place from 7 a.m. to 20 p.m. local time. The precinct referendum commission shall notif y citizens of the time and place of voting no later than ten days before the day of voting through the mass media.

Presence of representatives of public associations and the media. On voting day, from the moment the polling station opens until the results of the vote count at the referendum polling station are established, representatives of public associations of the Republic and observers from foreign states and international organi s ations may be present.

The mass media shall cover the preparation and holding of the referendum; their representatives accredited to referendum commissions shall be guaranteed access to events related to the holding of the referendum.

The draft resolution of the Central Referendum Commission “On Approval of the Rules for Certifying the Authorities of Representatives of Public Associations of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Observers from Foreign States and International Organisations during the Republican Referendum” shall be posted on the Internet portal of open regulatory legal acts in accordance with the established procedure.

The rules provide that a public association sending representatives to a polling station during a republican referendum shall be registered in the Republic of Kazakhstan in the manner prescribed by the legislation of the Republic of Kazakhstan in the field of state registration of legal entities.

Only a citizen of the Republic of Kazakhstan can be a representative of a public association during a republican referendum.

The powers of a representative of a public association shall be confirmed in writing, indicating his /her last name, first name, patronymic. This document shall be certified by the seal of the public association that sent the representative.

The document of authority shall be presented to the chairman of the precinct referendum commission or a person replacing him /her , together with an identity document of the representative of the public association, for registration by entering data about him /her in the register.

One representative from one public association may be present at the polling station at the same time.

Voting premise. Voting shall take place in specially designated areas. The opportunity shall be provided to representatives of public associations of the Republic, observers from foreign states and international organi s ations, representatives of the media and members of the commission to observe the ballot boxes, entering and leaving the booths for secret voting.

When equipping the voting premises, conditions shall be provided for unhindered access of citizens with disabilities, and voting in it.

Voting organisation. Each citizen shall vote personally. The transfer of the right to vote, as well as voting for other persons, shall not be allowed. Voting ballots shall be issued to citizens on the basis of the lists of citizens who have the right to participate in the referendum, upon presentation of an identity document.

Organisation of voting outside the polling station. In the event that individual citizens, due to health reasons, due to the care of a sick family member, cannot come to vote, the precinct referendum commission, at their written request, which may be submitted no later than twelve o ’ clock local time on voting day, shall organi s e voting in place of residence of these citizens.

On absentee vote certificate. If a citizen changes his /her place of residence between May 20, 2022 and until 18:00 local time on June 4, 2022, the citizen shall have the right to receive an absentee vote certificate at his /her referendum precinct.

At the same time, an appropriate mark shall be made in the list of citizens who have the right to participate in the referendum.

Absentee vote certificates shall not be issued to citizens wishing to vote in another polling station within the same locality.

Conducting a vote. When voting, a citizen shall put any mark in the empty box to the right of the answer for which he /she votes. It shall not be allowed to put marks in the ballot with a pencil, as well as to make any corrections to it. The completed ballot shall be dropped into the ballot box.

The counting of votes shall begin at 20:00 local time, unless the voting time is changed in the given precinct in accordance with the procedure established by the Constitutional Law. The time for counting votes at an electoral precinct shall not exceed twelve hours from the beginning of the count.

The results of the count of votes shall be considered by the commission and recorded in the minutes, which are signed by the chairman and members of the commission. A copy of the protocol shall be posted immediately in the premises of the referendum precinct in a specially designated place for public familiari s ation and shall remain in the premises for two days. At the request of the person who, in accordance with the Constitutional Law, is present during the counting of votes, he /she shall receive a copy of the protocol, certified by the signatures of the chairman and secretary of the commission and the seal of the election commission.

The voting results shall be summed up at a meeting of the Central Referendum Commission and documented in a protocol. A referendum shall be considered valid if more than half of the citizens who have the right to participate in the referendum took part in the voting. A decision on an issue put to a referendum shall be considered adopted if, as a result of voting, more than half of the citizens who took part in the voting voted for its positive decision.

Amendments and additions to the Constitution submitted to a republican referendum shall be considered adopted if more than half of the citizens who took part in the voting voted for them in at least two-thirds of the regions, cities of republican significance and the capital.

W ithin the framework of the third issue , Vice Minister of Digital Development, Innovation and Aerospace Industry Asset Turysov also made a report “On the implementation of an online service for checking information at the place of registration of citizens on the e-government portal.”

The Central Referendum Commission and the Ministry of Digital Development, Innovation and Aerospace Industry of the Republic of Kazakhstan have prepared a joint document on the implementation of an online service for checking information at the referendum premises at the place of registration of citizens on the e-government portal in the prescribed manner.

The service shall be used by members of precinct referendum commissions when citizens apply if they are not included in the lists of citizens eligible to participate in the republican referendum, submitted by local executive bodies.

A citizen who has permanent registration at the place of residence within the boundaries of the referendum precinct, if he /she is not found in the list of citizens who have the right to participate in the republican referendum, he/she shall have the right to apply to the precinct commission with a written application for inclusion in the list indicating consent to the use of his /her personal data.

When confirming on the page of the online service information about the permanent registration at the place of residence of the applicant in the territory within the boundaries of the corresponding referendum precinct, the precinct commission shall decide to include him /her in the list of citizens eligible to participate in the republican referendum.

Following the meeting, the Chairman of the CRC noted that it is necessary to carry out work to widely inform citizens about the time and place of voting.

“These should be different, convenient and effective ways of informing: from traditional, so-called invitations, to the use of modern gadgets and SMS mailings from the Ministry of Digital Development, Innovation and Aerospace Industry,” he stressed.

Nurlan Abdirov emphasi s ed the need to pay special attention to the participation of representatives of public associations, the media, observers from foreign states in the upcoming republican referendum, as well as training members of precinct referendum commissions before voting day, including training on the operation of the online service for checking information on place of registration of citizens on the e-government portal.

The head of the Central Referendum Commission also informed the meeting participants that inspection trips of the CRC members to the regions were planned to discuss the preparation and holding of the referendum. In particular, on issues of informing the population, readiness of polling stations for voting day and creating the necessary conditions for citizens to vote, including for citizens with disabilities and special needs when voting.

The meeting was followed by a traditional briefing for the media.