Press release on the meeting of the Central Election Commission

On February 27, a meeting of the Central Election Commission was held under the chairmanship of Nurlan Abdirov, which considered the following issues:

1. On submission of voter lists to election commissions;

2. On voting ballots;

3. On absentee voting certificates for the right to vote;

4. On the organisation and conduct of pre-election television debates;

5. On accreditation of observers of foreign states and international organisations.

The meeting was attended by chairpersons and members of territorial election commissions of regions, Astana, Almaty and Shymkent, as well as the heads of the administrations of akims of these regions (in the video-conferencing mode), representatives of political parties, and the media. Deputy Ministers of Information and Social Development, Digital Development, Innovation and Aerospace Industry, as well as the leadership of Khabar Agency JSC were also invited. Traditionally, the meeting was attended by a representative of the OSCE/ODIHR Election Observation Mission.

The meeting was broadcast through the CEC website and Youtube with sign language translation.

Opening the meeting, Nurlan Abdirov informed that within the current election campaign, from February 21 to March 14, CEC members began to travel to all regions on inspection visits and to provide methodological and practical assistance to territorial election commissions.

To date, they have visited 6 regions – North Kazakhstan, Akmola, Almaty, Mangystau regions, Almaty city and Zhetysu region, where they got acquainted with the preparations for the elections, the measures taken by the territorial election commissions, gave explanations on issues arising from the participants of the electoral process, as well as analysed practical cases.

Turning to the first agenda item, the Chairman of the Central Election Commission noted that the organisation of work with voter lists is one of the important areas in preparation for the elections.

According to the Calendar plans of the main events for the preparation and holding of early elections of members of the Mazhilis of the Parliament and maslikhats, approved by the election commissions, on February 26, the akimats submitted the voter lists for each polling station to the relevant territorial election commissions.

Emphasising the importance of this issue, Nurlan Abdirov said that the quality organisation of elections on voting day directly depends on the completeness and reliability of the voter lists. Therefore, the formation of voter lists is one of the most important organisational elements of the electoral process.

Deputy Chairman of the Central Election Commission Konstantin Petrov made a report on this issue.

He informed that since the beginning of the campaign, citizens have been widely informed about the procedure for inclusion in the voter lists through republican TV channels, radio stations and print media.

Every citizen had the opportunity to register as a voter in the relevant local executive body from the moment the elections were called and no later than 30 days before the elections, that is, until February 17.

Local executive bodies were instructed to ensure that citizens are informed about the possibilities of being included in the voter lists and clarifying themselves in the voter lists, including through online services located on their websites and Call centres.

On the basis of written applications of citizens for inclusion in the lists more than 48 thousand people were included at the location of the local executive bodies.

In all regions of the republic, since the beginning of the electoral campaign, 230 Call-centres have been operating, which received more than 17,000 appeals, including those on inclusion in the voter lists. The work will continue until election day.

Konstantin Petrov also informed that as of February 26, 12 million 32 thousand 550 citizens were included in the voter lists transferred to the polling stations by local and executive bodies.

Information about voters in a digitally protected form will be transferred to the Ministry of Digital Development, Innovation and Aerospace Industry for organising informing citizens about inclusion in the voter lists at a particular polling station via SMS.

He also said that every citizen has the right to check the data about themselves in the voter lists and appeal against non-inclusion, incorrect inclusion in the list or exclusion from the list, as well as inaccuracies in the voter data in the list. In this case, a citizen can be included in only one voter list.

Fifteen days before voting day, from March 4, voter lists for polling stations will be presented to voters for review. It will also provide an opportunity to get acquainted with the voter lists in the premises of the election commissions, to check the correctness of the data entered in them.

During the meeting, reports of local executive bodies on the ongoing work on the formation of voter lists were heard.

Nurlan Abdirov noted that the election commissions are working to create opportunities for people to clarify their status in the voter lists through various information resources. The Ministries of Information and Social Development, Digital Development, Innovation and Aerospace Industry were also involved in this work.

Vice Minister of Digital Development, Innovation and Aerospace Industry Asset Turyssov informed that on March 6, the Search for a polling station through IIN service on Unified Platform of Internet Resources of State Bodies and eGov will be launched, as well as SMS distribution through mobile operators.

It is planned to launch relevant notifications in popular mobile banking applications.

At the moment, the issues of implementing online services for checking information at the place of registration of citizens on the e-government portal and registration of citizens are being worked out.

Nurlan Abdirov, turning to the second issue of the meeting, noted that a large role in the documentation of the electoral process is assigned to the ballot. The will of each voter who voted by ballot is given legal force, since the ballot is one of the most important electoral documents, which entails the need for careful legal regulation of all aspects related to the approval of the form, text, issue of ballots.

CEC member Sabila Mustafina made a presentation on this issue. She noted that the CEC, within its powers, establishes the form and text of ballot papers, the procedure for their production, the degree of security, the number of ballots and their delivery to territorial election commissions.

Taking into account the peculiarities of the combined campaign for the election of members of the Mazhilis of the Parliament and maslikhats of all levels, as well as high competition in individual constituencies, it was proposed to adopt separate decisions of the CEC on different types of ballots for this campaign.

The meeting approved the form and requirements for the blanks of 5 voting ballots, including the two-sided format, colour and size of the ballot blank:

1. for the election of Mazhilis Members to the Parliament of the Republic of Kazakhstan, elected according to party lists: colour – blue, A5 format (148x210 mm);

2. for the election of Mazhilis Members to the Parliament of the Republic of Kazakhstan, elected in single-seat territorial constituencies: colour – green, A5 format (148x210 mm) – up to 16 candidates, cut-out format (148x500 mm) – more than 16;

3. for elections of maslikhat members of regions, cities of republican significance and the capital, elected according to party lists: colour – purple, A5 format (148x210 mm);

4. for elections of maslikhat members of regions, cities of republican significance and the capital, elected in single-seat territorial constituencies: colour – orange, A5 format (148x210 mm) – up to 16 candidates, cut-out format (148x500mm) – more than 16;

5. for the election of maslikhat members of cities of regional significance, districts elected in single-seat territorial constituencies: colour – grey, A5 format (148x210mm) – up to 16 candidates, cut-out format (148x500 mm) – more than 16.

Thus, at each polling station, which are located on the territory of 17 regions, 5 types of ballots will be issued, and in 3 metropolitan cities – 4 ballots.

The Central Election Commission has established that the number of ballots for the election of Mazhilis Members to the Parliament of the Republic of Kazakhstan, elected according to party lists and single-seat territorial constituencies, subject to production and delivery to the regions, including the excess of one percent of the total number of voters in the Republic of Kazakhstan, will be 12,152 876 pieces.

The number of ballots for the election of maslikhat members is being established, their production and timely delivery to the polling stations by the relevant election commissions of the regions will be ensured.

The CEC Chairman stressed that the proposed format of the ballots allows placing the approved text of the ballot without compromising image quality and readability. He also noted that for persons with visual impairments, polling stations will be equipped with all necessary conditions, including additional lighting and magnifiers.

Following the consideration of the issue, Nurlan Abdirov instructed the CEC administration and territorial election commissions to take measures to prepare ballots and timely delivery to polling stations.

CEC Deputy Chairman Konstantin Petrov made a report on the third issue.

He said that, in accordance with the election legislation, when a voter changes place of residence between the submission of voter lists for public review and election day, the precinct election commission, at the request of the voter and upon presentation of an identity document, shall issue an absentee voting certificate to the voter for the right to vote.

The issuance of absentee voting certificates will begin on March 4 and end at 18.00 local time on the day preceding the voting day, i.e. March 18.

Taking into account the peculiarities and the combined election campaign for the election of members of the Mazhilis and maslikhats of the Republic of Kazakhstan, 5 types of absentee voting certificates for the right to vote were elaborated in accordance with the colour of ballots for each type of election.

Upon presentation of an absentee voting certificate for the right to vote, the precinct election commission on voting day shall include the voter in the voter list at the polling station at the place of his/her stay.

At the same time, an absentee voting certificate for the right to vote shall not be issued to voters who wish to vote in another constituency or in another polling station within the same locality.

Turning to the fourth issue on the agenda, the Chairman of the Central Election Commission said that, in accordance with the regulatory provisions of the Constitutional Act on Elections, political parties that nominated party lists of candidates for Mazhilis Members to the Parliament have the right to participate in pre-election debates. The procedure and conditions for their holding are determined by the Central Election Commission.

CEC member Anastassiya Schegortsova made a report on the organisation and holding of pre-election television debates.

She said that in order to organise the debate, the Central Election Commission held a consultation with the Ministry of Information and Social Development to determine the appropriate television channel. Significant factors were the functional and technical capabilities of the channel, as well as the maximum coverage of the audience.

The Ministry of Information and Social Development proposed to hold televised pre-election debates on the state nationwide TV channel Khabar. The channel broadcasts throughout the country in a wide range of television broadcasting.

March 16 has been set as the date for the pre-election television debates.

CEC Secretary Mukhtar Yerman spoke on the final issue on accreditation of observers for the early elections of Mazhilis Members to the Parliament of the Republic of Kazakhstan from foreign states and international organisations.

He informed that 111 observers from 11 foreign states and 3 international organisations have been accredited so far.

Today, 52 observers from 2 foreign states and 3 international organisations are being submitted for accreditation: 3 candidates from India, 2 candidates from Moldova, 17 candidates from the CIS Observer Mission, 28 candidates from the Inter-Parliamentary Assembly of CIS Member States and 2 candidates from the Shanghai Cooperation Organization.

After the meeting, a traditional media briefing was held, during which members of the CEC answered questions from journalists.