ASTANA — Kazakhstan opened more than 10,400 polling stations on Sunday for the first elections to its new 145-seat unicameral legislature, the Kurultai, marking the country’s first nationwide vote under its new constitutional system.
Polling stations across the country opened at 7 a.m. local time and are scheduled to close at 8 p.m., while some stations at military facilities, shift-worker settlements, continuous-production facilities and specialized institutions opened an hour earlier.
Kazakh citizens abroad can cast their ballots at 79 polling stations established at diplomatic missions in 61 countries.
Voting abroad has been suspended in Iran and Ukraine due to security concerns, while no polling station was established at Kazakhstan’s embassy in Ethiopia because there are no registered Kazakh voters there.
The election follows the adoption of a new constitution this year that abolished Kazakhstan’s bicameral parliament and replaced it with the Kurultai, a single-chamber legislature comprising 145 deputies.
The new parliament will be elected entirely through party lists, replacing the previous electoral system that combined party-list voting with single-mandate constituencies.
Seven parties are contesting the election: Adilet, the Nationwide Social Democratic Party, Baitak, the People’s Party of Kazakhstan, Auyl, Ak Zhol and Respublica. Ballots also include a “none of the above” option.
Parties must secure more than 5% of the vote to gain representation in the Kurultai.
First Deputy Head of the Presidential Administration Erlan Karin described the vote as the beginning of a new stage in Kazakhstan’s political transformation.
“These elections are not ordinary elections. These elections are truly of historic importance because the next stage of the national reset begins after the adoption of the new Constitution,” Karin told reporters after casting his ballot in Astana.
He said the election would provide fresh momentum to Kazakhstan’s political transformation and modernization.
Police were placed on heightened alert for election day, with Interior Ministry spokesman Shyngys Alekeshev saying all polling stations had undergone security inspections and were placed under round-the-clock protection.
Authorities said the situation remained stable, with no serious public-order violations reported.
Prosecutors identified eight violations of election legislation during the campaign, including three cases involving illegal election-related opinion polling and five involving campaigning violations.
The Central Election Commission reported turnout at 17.96% three hours after all polling stations across the country had opened.
Around 12.6 million people are registered to vote.
Source: Saudi Gazette