On the announcement of elections of deputies of maslikhats of the Republic of Kazakhstan, approval of calendar plans and the establishment of forms of electoral documents for elections of deputies of the Mazhilis of Parliament and maslikhats of the Republic of Kazakhstan

On October 21, a meeting of the Central Election Commission of the Republic of Kazakhstan was held. The meeting was attended by representatives of political parties, Deputy Chairman of the Assembly of the People of Kazakhstan Zhanseit Tuimebayev, in the videoconferencing regime territorial election commissions of regions, the cities of Nur-Sultan, Almaty and Shymkent, representatives of the media – online.

The following issues were considered at the meeting:

1. “On the approval of the Calendar plan of the main measures for the preparation and conduct of the next elections of the Mazhilis deputies, elected by party lists”;

2. “On approval of the Calendar plan of the main activities for the preparation and conduct of the next elections of deputies of the Mazhilis, elected by the Assemblies of the People of Kazakhstan”;

3. “On the appointment of the next elections of deputies of maslikhats of the Republic of Kazakhstan”;

4. “On approval of the standard Calendar plan of the main activities for the preparation and conduct of the next elections of deputies of maslikhats of the Republic of Kazakhstan”;

5. “On the establishment of forms of electoral documents for the election of deputies of the Mazhilis of the Parliament of the Republic of Kazakhstan and maslikhats of the Republic of Kazakhstan”.

Opening the meeting, Chairman of the Central Election Commission of the Republic of Kazakhstan Berik Imashev said that in accordance with the Decree of the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan, the election campaign for the election of deputies of the Mazhilis was launched today.

B. Imashev noted that the constitutional term of office of the Mazhilis deputies elected on March 20, 2016 expires in March 2021.

According to the electoral legislation, regular elections of deputies of the Mazhilis shall be appointed by the President at least five months in advance and are held no later than 2 months before the end of the term of office of deputies of the Mazhilis.

Thus, the campaign for the election of deputies of the Mazhilis of the Parliament has been appointed in strict accordance with the specified constitutional terms and is considered a regular election.

He also stressed that the election of the supreme representative body is one of the most significant socio-political events in the country.

Deputy Chairman of the Central Election Commission Konstantin Petrov made a report on the first issue “On the approval of the Schedule of the main activities for the preparation and conduct of the next elections of Mazhilis deputies, elected by party lists”.

He informed that the Central Election Commission, in accordance with the established responsibilities, organizes the preparation and conduct of elections of the President and deputies of the Mazhilis of the Parliament of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

In this regard, based on the norms of the current legislation, a calendar plan of the main measures for the preparation and conduct of elections of deputies of the Mazhilis of the Parliament of the Republic of Kazakhstan, elected by party lists, was approved.

A candidate for deputy of the Mazhilis of Parliament may be a citizen of the Republic of Kazakhstan who has lived in its territory for the last 10 years, has reached 25 years of age and has a passive electoral right.

A candidate for deputies of the Parliament of the Republic of Kazakhstan, including on party lists cannot be:

1) a person who has a criminal record that has not been canceled or removed in the manner prescribed by law;

2) a person whose guilt in the commission of a corruption crime and corruption offense has been recognized by a court in accordance with the procedure established by law.

The right to nominate candidates for deputies of the Mazhilis, elected by party lists, belongs to political parties registered in the prescribed manner.

When approving party lists, a political party includes women and persons under the age of twenty-nine, in the amount of at least thirty percent of the total number of persons included in it.

In accordance with the approved plan, the stage of nomination of candidates begins two months before and ends at eighteen o’clock local time forty days before the voting day. That is, from November 10 to 18-00 hours to November 30 this year.

Registration of party lists begins two months before and ends at eighteen o’clock local time one month before the elections, that is, from November 10 to 18-00 on December 10, 2020.

In accordance with paragraph 2 of Article 27 of the Constitutional Law, election campaigning begins from the moment the registration period for party lists expires and ends at zero hours local time on the day preceding the election day.

Thus, the total duration of the regular elections of deputies of the Mazhilis of Parliament, elected according to party lists, from the day of appointment to the day of voting will be 82 days.

Yerlan Dauylbaev, member of the Central Election Commission, spoke on the second issue of the meeting “On approval of the Schedule of the main activities for the preparation and conduct of the next elections of deputies of the Mazhilis, elected by the Assemblies of the People of Kazakhstan”.

E. Dauylbaev reported that the Central Election Commission and the commission of the city of republican significance are responsible for the preparation and conduct of elections of deputies of the Mazhilis, elected by the Assembly of the People of Kazakhstan.

A candidate for deputy of the Mazhilis, elected by the Assembly of the People of Kazakhstan, may be a citizen of the Republic of Kazakhstan who has permanently resided in its territory for the last 10 years, who has reached the age of twenty-five, who has a passive electoral right, does not have a conviction that has not been canceled or has not been removed, and who has no criminal record for committing corruption crime and corruption offense.

The right to nominate candidates for deputies of the Mazhilis of Parliament, elected by the Assembly of the People of Kazakhstan, belongs to the Council of the Assembly.

The nomination of candidates begins one month before – on December 11 of the current year and ends at eighteen o’clock local time twenty days before the elections – on December 21 of the current year.

Registration of candidates begins twenty days before – on December 21 of the current year and ends at eighteen hours local time fifteen days before the elections – on December 26 of the current year, unless otherwise specified when calling elections.

Election campaigning begins from the moment the registration period for candidates expires, i.e. from 18.00 pm on December 26 and ends at zero hours local time on the day preceding election day – on January 10, 2021.

Elections of deputies of the Mazhilis of Parliament, elected by the Assembly of the People of Kazakhstan, shall be held at a session of the Assembly of the People of Kazakhstan.

When moving to the third issue of the meeting, the Chairman of the Central Election Commission B. Imashev emphasized that in accordance with the amendments made to the Constitutional Law “On elections in the Republic of Kazakhstan” for the first time, deputies of maslikhats shall be elected according to party lists. The transition to a proportional system of elections of deputies of maslikhats is a logical continuation of the constitutional reform of 2007 and unifies the approaches to the formation of representative bodies at the republican and local levels.

Deputy Chairman of the Central Election Commission Konstantin Petrov made a report on the third issue “On the appointment of the next elections of deputies of maslikhats of the Republic of Kazakhstan”.

He said that the Constitutional Law of the Republic of Kazakhstan “On Elections in the Republic of Kazakhstan” provides the powers of the Central Election Commission to appoint regular elections of maslikhats.

Regular elections of deputies of maslikhats of all levels shall be held simultaneously and cannot coincide in terms with the elections of the President, deputies of the Senate of the Parliament.

There are no restrictions on holding elections of depities of maslikhats simultaneously with elections of deputiesof the Mazhilis of the Parliament of the Republic of Kazakhstan. In this regard, it was proposed to schedule the next elections of deputies of maslikhats for January 10, 2021.

K. Petrov noted that the combination of elections of deputies of the Mazhilis and deputies of maslikhats does not contradict the current legislation and in the current conditions is an objectively justified decision. A combined campaign means budget savings and a decrease in social contacts, which is justified in a pandemic.

K. Petrov also dwelled on the timing of certain electoral procedures: nomination, registration and pre-election campaigning for the elections of deptuies of the Mazhilis of Parliament and Maslikhats, and made a proposal to reduce the terms of nomination and registration of party lists by 6 days, respectively.

Thus, unified approaches at the end of the registration period for party lists for elections of deputies of the Mazhilis of Parliament, elected by party lists and maslikhats, will allow starting campaigning at the same time and increasing the campaign period during elections of deputies to maslikhats.

K. Petrov also informed that the Central Election Commission, in accordance with its competence, by the decree of September 11, 2020 No. 21/323, in accordance with the population of the administrative-territorial units, determined the number of maslikhat deputies elected from them.

In total, 3276 deputies of 216 maslikhats are to be elected for the upcoming campaign. 589 deputies of maslikhats of regions, the cities of Nur-Sultan, Almaty and Shymkent, 596 deputies of 36 maslikhats of cities of regional significance, 2091 deputies in 163 maslikhats of districts.

Yerlan Dauylbayev, member of the Central Election Commission, spoke with the question “On approval of the standard Schedule of the main activities for the preparation and conduct of the next elections of deputies of maslikhats of the Republic of Kazakhstan”.

In his speech, Y. Dauylbaev noted that the upcoming election campaign for the election of deputies of maslikhats has a number of peculiarities:

First, for the first time, elections to maslikhat are held according to party lists of political parties.

Second, in accordance with the amendments to the Constitutional Law on Elections, a single territorial constituency is formed on the territory of the corresponding administrative-territorial unit during the election of deputies to maslikhats.

Third, the number of women and persons under the age of twenty-nine must be at least thirty percent of the total number of persons included in the party list.

A citizen of the Republic of Kazakhstan who has reached twenty years of age may be elected a deputy of the maslikhat. A citizen of the Republic can be a deputy of one maslikhat only. The candidate must have a passive suffrage. That is, citizens who have been declared legally incompetent by the court, as well as those who are in places of imprisonment by a court sentence, do not have the right to be elected.

According to the report, the organization and conduct of elections of deputies of maslikhats shall be provided by territorial election commissions.

In this regard, a standard calendar plan of the main measures for the preparation and conduct of elections of deputies of maslikhats of the Republic of Kazakhstan was adopted, on which basis each territorial commission will adopt Calendar plans within two days.

In accordance with it, the stage of nominating candidates for MPs will last from November 10, 2020 until 18:00 local time on December 4, 2020.

Registration of candidates for deputies of maslikhats shall end at 18:00 local time on December 10, 2020.

The pre-election campaign shall begin after 18 hours local time on December 10, 2020, and end at zero hours local time on January 9, 2021.

Unified approaches at the end of the registration period for party lists shall allow for start campaigning at the same time and increase the campaign period by 5 days.

The results of elections of deputies of maslikhats shall be established by the corresponding territorial election commission no later than five days from the date of the elections.

Registration of the elected deputies of maslikhats shall be carried out by the corresponding territorial election commission.

Serik Sydykov, member of the Central Election Commission, spoke on the final issue of the meeting “On establishing the forms of electoral documents for the election of deputies to the Mazhilis of the Parliament of the Republic of Kazakhstan and maslikhats of the Republic of Kazakhstan”.

He reported that 42 forms of electoral documents have been prepared for two electoral campaigns: to the Mazhilis of the Parliament of the Republic of Kazakhstan and maslikhats.

The proposed forms of electoral documents are provided for the registration of election procedures of election commissions at specific stages of the campaign in accordance with the Constitutional Law of the Republic of Kazakhstan “On Elections in the Republic of Kazakhstan”.

A number of forms are established for the first time, taking into account the changes in the Constitutional Law of the Republic of Kazakhstan “On elections in the Republic of Kazakhstan”.