"On organization of work with voter lists at regular elections of deputies of the Mazhilis of Parliament and maslikhats of the Republic of Kazakhstan appointed for 10 January 2021"

On October 27 a meeting of the Central Election Commission of the Republic of Kazakhstan themed "On organization of work with voter lists at the regular elections of deputies of the Mazhilis of Parliament and maslikhats of the Republic of Kazakhstan, appointed for 10 January 2021" was held.

Representatives of political parties, Ministry of Internal Affairs, Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, "Government for Citizens" Non-Profit JSC, "Engineering Technical Center of CEC RK" Republican State Enterprise attended the meeting, territorial election commissions and heads of akim offices of regions, Nur-Sulan, Almaty and Shymkent participated in videoconferencing mode, media representatives - online.

Opening the meeting, Berik Imashev, Chairman of the Central Election Commission underlined that work with voter lists is one of important aspects of the electoral process. Responsibility for comprehensiveness, reliability and relevance of voter lists is vested upon local executive bodies. Citizens themselves shall also be interested in it, since the inclusion of citizens in the voter lists is the basis for implementing of the constitutional right of the electorate – to elect.

Konstantin Petrov, Deputy Chairman of the Central Election Commission, took the floor on the agenda issue.

Organization of work with voter lists.

Taking into account changes introduced in the Constitutional Law "On Elections" in 2018 in the part of formation of voter lists, the state database on individuals was determined the common source for formation of the lists.

The process of formation of voter lists is now controlled by territorial election commissions, which identify discrepancies of lists provided by akimats with the state database on individuals and work through them with local executive bodies.

11 820 318 citizens of the Republic of Kazakhstan have been included in the voter lists as of 1 October 2020.

Transfer to formation of voter lists based on the state database of individuals excludes the former practice of general "door-to-door visits" as well as unifies the source of primary information compared to the previous practice, when the same citizen could be included in several regional databases, or not included at all.

Including in voter lists.

A corresponding local executive body draws up voter list on the place of residence.

It shall include citizens of the Republic having active election right: 18 years old of age, legally competent, not held in detention facilities.

The basis for including a citizen in the voter list at a particular polling station is his/her registration at the place of residence on the territory of this polling station.

Citizens with a temporary registration can be included in the voter lists only based on an application submitted by them to local executive bodies.

Even in the absence of registration, no later than December 10 this year, citizens shall have the right to apply to the local executive body with an application for choosing a polling station.

If the voter no later than thirty days before the elections, i.e. no later than December 10, got to know that he/she would not be able to arrive on election day at the voting premises at the place of registration, he/she shall have the right at his place of stay to apply to the local executive body with a written application for inclusion in the corresponding voter list.

In this case, the local executive body shall organize the exclusion of the citizen from the voter list at the place of registration and inclusion in the voter list of the precinct where the citizen will vote.

Providing voter lists to the polling station.

The respective akim shall submit the voter lists for each polling station according to the act to the precinct election commission twenty days before the start of voting, i.e. no later than December 20, in electronic form and (or) on paper, to the territorial commission - in electronic form.

The subordinate territorial election commission shall submit the voter lists in electronic form to the higher commission for inclusion in the electronic Register of citizens – voters of the Republic of Kazakhstan within two days from the date of their receipt from local executive bodies.

Voter lists for polling stations formed at the place of residence of citizens, fifteen days before voting day, i.e. from December 26, shall be presented to voters for familiarization by the relevant election commissions.

Citizens shall be provided with the opportunity to familiarize themselves with the voter lists in the premises of the respective election commissions, as well as check the correctness of data on voters entered in them.

Making changes to the voter list at the precinct.

Every citizen shall have the right to check information about himself/herself 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 made in the list.

Applications on the need to be included in the voter lists, deletion from them or corrections in the voter lists are considered by the respective election commission on the day the application is received by the election commission.

If the application is rejected, the election commission shall immediately issue the applicant with a copy of the reasoned decision to reject the application. The decision can be appealed to the appropriate court at the location of the election commission, which considers the complaint on the day it is received.

If the changes are made to the voter list, the precinct election commission shall inform the higher election commission thereof.

Changes to the voter lists after the start of the vote count shall be prohibited.

Voter lists by polling stations formed in places of temporary residence of citizens.

There are 558 polling stations in the Republic formed in places of temporary residence of citizens. Voter lists for such polling stations are compiled 5 days before voting and are subject to revision 1 day before voting day.

These are polling stations created: in recreation centers, sanatoriums, inpatient medical and prophylactic institutions; in the places of citizens accommodation, located in remote and hard-to-reach areas, in areas of distant-pasture animal husbandry; in pre-trial and temporary detention centers; on ships belonging to the Republic of Kazakhstan and sailing on election day; in military units.

At the representative offices of the Republic of Kazakhstan in foreign countries, 66 polling stations have been created in 51 countries.

These lists include all citizens who live or are on a long-term business trip abroad in the relevant foreign state and who have valid passports of a citizen of the Republic.

Also during the meeting, Kanat Arsakbayev, Director of the Engineering Technical Center of CEC RK, spoke about the work done to integrate departmental systems, ensure technical interaction with territorial election commissions, and control the completeness and reliability of voter lists.

First Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan Marat Kozhayev reported on the current situation in the count and registration of citizens at the places of residence.

The heads of administrations of akims of regions, cities of republican significance and the capital also spoke. They reported on the work being done to improve the quality of compiling voter lists and on organizing the work of Call-centers.

Summing up the results of the meeting, Berik Imashev urged voters to show legal literacy and take care of their inclusion in the voter list within the statutory deadlines – no later than December 10 this year. He also focused attention of local executive bodies on the fact that they ensure the inclusion in the voter list of all citizens of the Republic who have active suffrage at their place of residence in the territory of the respective polling stations.

Following the meeting, a resolution of the Central Election Commission was adopted, according to which akims shall take all comprehensive measures to ensure the formation of reliable and up-to-date voter lists, taking into account all applications received. Also, local executive bodies need to organize information online services and Call centers to inform citizens about inclusion in the voter list.

An appeal by the Central Election Commission of the Republic of Kazakhstan to the citizens of the Republic of Kazakhstan, who have an active right to vote, on their inclusion in the voter lists was adopted at the meeting.

After the meeting, an online briefing was held for media representatives, at which members of the CEC answered questions from media representatives.