Preparation for the referendum: the СКС reviewed key issues of 

organizing the vote

On February 23, 2026, as part of preparations for the national referendum scheduled for March 15, a meeting of the Central Referendum Commission of the Republic of Kazakhstan was held.

During the discussion, the following issues were considered:

1) ensuring conditions for persons with disabilities during the national referendum;

2) the work carried out by local executive bodies on the material and technical provision of polling stations, creating conditions to ensure the rights of persons with disabilities, and providing referendum commissions with lists of citizens entitled to participate in the national referendum;

3) the procedure for voting in the national referendum and for tabulating the results;

4) the production of ballot papers for voting in the national referendum;

5) accreditation of observers from foreign states and international organizations for the national referendum.

The meeting was attended by members of the Central Referendum Commission, representatives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Artificial Intelligence and Digital Development, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, as well as the media.

Via videoconference, the chairpersons and members of the territorial referendum commissions of the regions, the cities of Astana, Almaty and Shymkent, as well as the heads of the offices of regional akims joined the meeting.

A live online broadcast of the meeting was streamed on the Commission’s website and on YouTube, with sign-language interpretation provided.

On the first agenda item, a report was delivered by CRC member Lyazzat Suyindik.

She reported that: “Ensuring the electoral rights of persons with disabilities is an unconditional priority. The implementation of accessibility measures is under ongoing oversight, including monitoring of polling stations with the participation of non-governmental organizations, training of commission members, and piloting new technological solutions for voting by persons with disabilities.” Thus, on                February 19, at an extended meeting of the Working Group on Ensuring the Electoral Rights of Persons with Disabilities under the Central Election Commission, a preliminary version of a template for independently filling in the ballot using Braille was presented, as well as audio support for the text of the draft Constitution in Kazakh and Russian, intended for all polling stations.

According to the Chairman of the Central Referendum Commission, Nurlan Abdirov, placing the text of the draft Constitution at polling stations with audio support is a new approach to ensuring accessibility for persons with disabilities.

Kenzhegul Seitzhan, Commissioner for the Rights of Socially Vulnerable Population Groups under the President, a deputy of the Mazhilis of the Parliament, and a member of the Working Group on Ensuring the Electoral Rights of Persons with Disabilities under the Central Election Commission, noted that accessibility issues had been discussed in detail within the Working Group, and that all comments and recommendations voiced were taken into account by the Commission. He added that the template had undergone expert review multiple times, was refined in line with requirements, and complies with established standards.

On the second agenda item, the heads of the offices of regional akims and the akimats of the cities of Astana, Almaty and Shymkent presented information on the preparation of polling stations. They noted that, in the regions, in accordance with the Commission’s resolution of February 12, polling stations have been provided with the necessary material and technical equipment, accessibility conditions for persons with disabilities have been created, and lists of citizens entitled to participate in the referendum have been compiled and submitted to the commissions.

Regional representatives also spoke about the operation of call centers and Telegram bots, measures to ensure the participation of students arriving from other regions, citizens working on a rotational basis and those living in agglomerations, as well as the organization of services such as accessible taxi transport for persons with disabilities and sign-language interpretation.

On the third agenda item, CRC member Azamat Aimanakumov explained the main legal provisions regulating the organization and conduct of voting at the national referendum. According to him, voting will take place at 10,411 referendum polling stations.

According to Erlan Alimbayev, Ambassador-at-Large of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, voting abroad will be organized at 80 polling stations located at Kazakhstan’s missions in 62 foreign countries.

In his remarks, Azamat Aimanakumov focused on informing citizens, noting that precinct commissions must, no later than ten days before the referendum, communicate information on the date, time, place and procedure of voting. Informational outreach is already under way in the regions using various formats.

“For personalized informing, door-to-door visits and the delivery of personalized invitations with a QR code are planned - a practice successfully tested in previous electoral campaigns,” Nurlan Abdirov noted.

The mechanism for voting with absentee certificates was also considered separately: citizens who are outside their place of registration are entitled to obtain them from the moment the voter lists are made available for public review until  18:00 on the day preceding voting, upon a written application and presentation of an identity document.

Within the third agenda item, the procedures for voting on referendum day were also discussed: voting at the polling station at the place of registration, voting outside the polling station premises upon the citizen’s written request, as well as voting in places of temporary stay and abroad.

Continuing the discussion of the third item, Deputy Chairman of the CRC Mukhtar Yerman reported that, together with the Ministry of Artificial Intelligence and Digital Development and the Ministry of Internal Affairs, two online services are being launched: one to check information on a person’s place of registration on the e-Government portal, and another to register citizens at the addresses of polling stations. These solutions are aimed at improving access to information and enabling citizens to exercise their electoral rights.

“The service will allow precinct commissions, upon a citizen’s written request, to confirm their place of registration via eGov in order to include them on the voter list. It will be available at 5,066 polling stations, and the option of temporary registration on voting day is available at 220 polling stations,” Mukhtar Yerman concluded.

Vice Minister of Artificial Intelligence and Digital Development Rostislav Konyashkin shared that a “Frequently Asked Questions” tab is planned. The issue of notifying citizens has also been addressed separately: informing will be carried out via SMS mailings, push notifications in eGov Mobile, second-tier bank mobile application, as well as by posting informational materials and banners on the Unified Platform of Internet Resources and eGov portal.

On the fourth agenda item, CRC member Mikhail Bortnik spoke about the production of ballots for the national referendum.

He reported that, in accordance with the Constitutional Law “On the National Referendum,” the Central Commission determines the format, text, and procedure for producing the ballot.

In this regard, a draft ballot has been prepared, including the question to be put to the referendum: “Do you accept the new Constitution of the Republic of Kazakhstan, the draft of which was published in the mass media on 12 February 2026?”

The response options are “YES, I accept” and “NO, I do not accept,” and security-grade requirements have also been defined, providing for the use of printed anti-counterfeiting security features.

At the same time, the number of ballots to be produced is determined based on the lists of citizens entitled to participate in the referendum. According to the information and reports provided by representatives of the akimats of the regions and the cities of Astana, Almaty and Shymkent, local executive bodies across the Republic have included 12,461,796 citizens in the lists.

The Constitutional Law “On the National Referendum” stipulates that ballots are delivered to precinct referendum commissions with a reserve of one percent of the total number of voters at each polling station. Accordingly, 12,586,413 ballots are to be produced.

The delivery of ballots to precinct commissions will be carried out within the timeframes established by paragraph 5 of Article 27 of the Constitutional Law on Elections: no earlier than three days and no later than one day before voting day.

On the fifth agenda item, Deputy Chairman of the CRC RK Mukhtar Yerman recalled that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs had sent invitations to international organizations to participate in observing the referendum, and that the Central Referendum Commission, on a bilateral basis, had sent invitations to the central electoral bodies of more than 30 foreign states.

“As of today, nominations for accreditation have been submitted for 21 observers from three international organizations and five foreign states: from the Republic of Azerbaijan - two nominees, including the Chaiman of Azerbaijan’s Central Election Commission, Mazahir Panahov; from the Kyrgyz Republic - two nominees; from the State of Palestine - one observer, the Ambassador of Palestine to Kazakhstan, Montasyr F.A. Abuzeid, Dean of the diplomatic corps accredited in Astana; from the Republic of Tajikistan - one nominee, the Ambassador of the Republic of Tajikistan to the Republic of Kazakhstan, Khayrullo Ibodzoda; from the Kingdom of Thailand - one observer. In addition, seven persons have been put forward from the Commonwealth of Independent States Observer Mission, whose representatives plan to begin work tomorrow; six observers from the Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures in Asia (CICA), including the Organization’s Secretary General Kairat Sarybay; and one nominee from the Turkic Academy,” Mukhtar Yerman reported.

He added that, as proposals are received, the information on observers will be updated.

As a result of the meeting, the Central Referendum Commission adopted resolutions and acts on the issues considered.