Nurlan Abdirov visited the North Kazakhstan region on the preparation 

and conduct of early elections of the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan

On November 9-10 this year, Chairman of the Central Election Commission of the Republic of Kazakhstan Nurlan Abdirov visited the territorial and precinct election commissions of the North Kazakhstan region on the preparation and holding of early elections of the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan scheduled for November 20, 2022. 

He visited the polling stations of Petropavlovsk and Mamlyutka cities and the village of Voskresenovka of the Mamlyut district of the North Kazakhstan region. During the trip, the head of the Central Election Commission held meetings with members of territorial and precinct election commissions, as well as with representatives of local executive bodies. In total, more than 240 people took part in the meetings. 

At a meeting chaired by Nurlan Abdirov, authorised state bodies and the regional territorial election commission reported on the work carried out in the region on voter lists, organisational, logistical support for elections, creating the necessary conditions for the physical accessibility of polling stations for citizens with disabilities, protection and timely delivery of ballots, etc. 

Thus, chairman of the TEC of the North Kazakhstan region Askar Sakipkereyev said that 655 election commissions of the region were involved in the election campaign, the total number of polling stations was 428. 

Currently, the territorial election commissions are working on the registration of proxies of candidates for the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan. Training of members of election commissions was organised by the cascade method, i.e. higher election commissions train members of lower ones. Since the beginning of the election campaign, 36 workshop-meetings have been held in the region with members of election commissions, where 3356 people took part. 

On October 30 this year voter lists were sent to the polling stations, since November 4, the lists have been presented to voters for familiarisation. A total of 385,672 voters were included in the lists. 

In order to inform the population about the elections of the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan, 106 information and mobilisation banners were placed in the region, the necessary measures were taken to notify citizens about the day, time and place of voting. 

On the election day, a service for checking the registration of citizens will operate at 147 polling stations of the region, and mobile public service centres will be organised at five polling stations in Petropavlovsk. 

In his report, first deputy akim of the region Marat Tasmaganbetov informed that, as part of informing the population, the search service izbiratel.sko.kz was launched, which is available on the official websites of the akimats of the districts and the city of Petropavlovsk, the “Telegram bot “SailauSkoBot” and Call-centres in 13 districts and the regional centre. Moreover, a call centre operates around the clock on the basis of the iKOMEK-109 Unified Contact Centre. 

The material and technical equipment of polling stations has been provided, including equipped booths, stationary and portable ballot boxes, information stands and others. 

There are about 26,000 people with disabilities in the region, 2,239 of whom require special conditions at polling stations. To ensure the suffrage of visually impaired citizens tactile signs and information tables in Braille were installed at the facilities. At 626 stations, service areas for people with disabilities and other people with limited mobility will be organised, 502 polling stations will be equipped with special voting booths for citizens with impaired musculoskeletal system. Invataxi and social taxi services will be involved on voting day. 

The Chairman of the CEC drew attention of the Social Protection Department of the region to the need to personally visit all polling stations where people with disabilities will vote in order to provide them with the necessary conditions, and also drew attention of commission members to ensuring the accessibility and convenience of voting premises not only for voters, but also for observers, proxies and representatives of the media. 

He also noted that during this campaign, 100% of the PECs across the country will be provided with Braille stencils. In general, in the future, special attention shall be paid to the training of specialists who know Braille, because from next year on elections will be held much more often, which is associated with a change in the electoral system of the country (new principles for the formation of the Mazhilis of the Parliament, regional and district maslikhats, introduction of an imperative mandate, introduction of elective akims of districts, cities of regional significance). 

As part of the trip, Nurlan Abdirov checked the convenience and accessibility of stations for people with disabilities, the presence of areas with a computer, audio and video content, headphones, additional lighting, a magnifying glass, etc. He highly appreciated the equipment of one of the stations with a two-stage system of lifts for people with musculoskeletal disorders. 

At another polling station, due to inconvenient location of the ballot boxes, the head of the CEC recommended placing them in such a way as to ensure unhindered observation of the voting process by proxies and observers, representatives of the media. In turn, members of the precinct commissions expressed their gratitude and noted the high quality and convenience of various journals for filling in by PEC members, which were elaborated by the Central Election Commission. 

During the tour of the polling stations, the Head of the CEC drew the attention of local executive bodies to the provision of backup power supply to the premises where polling stations are located, and their heat supply. He also checked the operation of online services that allow voters to check themselves in the lists and got acquainted with the results of electoral training for members of election commissions. 

In the second part of the program, training was conducted in the form of a business game based on case technology for territorial and precinct election commissions. The training was attended by representatives of the OSCE/ODIHR Observer Mission Maximo Juan Prades Barcelo (Sweden), Geraldine Ann Power (Ireland), who have experience in observing elections in Nicaragua, El Salvador, Guatemala, Macedonia, Yugoslavia, Georgia, Ukraine, Armenia, Turkey, Bulgaria, Kyrgyzstan, Colombia, Honduras, Bosnia and other countries. 

Within the workshop, practical skills of members of election commissions were tested on the algorithm of actions on voting day, including preparing a polling station for voting day, issuing ballots, accompanying ballot boxes for voting outside the premises, the algorithm for vote count, drawing up protocols on the results of voting, etc. The CEC chairman asked clarifying questions about the algorithm of actions of members of election commissions and reminded them that the main task in organising the voting procedure is to ensure its transparency and openness. 

Based on the results of the meetings, Nurlan Abdirov gave a number of specific instructions to the chairmen of the territorial and precinct election commissions.