Meeting of Central Election Commission for election of deputies of the Mazhilis of the Parliament of the Republic of Kazakhstan, elected by the Assembly of People of Kazakhstan

On December 24, 2020, meeting of Central Election Commission of the Republic of Kazakhstan was held, in which representatives of Secretariat of the Assembly of People of Kazakhstan, General Prosecutor's Office, Ministries of Internal Affairs and Finance, Territorial Election Commission of Nur-Sultan, OSCE/ODIHR and CIS Missions took part, and media representatives - online.

The following issues were considered at the meeting:

1. On registration of candidates for deputies of the Mazhilis of the Parliament of the Republic of Kazakhstan, nominated by the Council of the Assembly of People of Kazakhstan;

2. On ballot for elections of deputies of the Mazhilis of the Parliament of the Republic of Kazakhstan, elected by the Assembly of People of Kazakhstan, scheduled for January 11, 2021;

3. On establishment of the amount of expenses of candidates for deputies of the Mazhilis of the Parliament of the Republic of Kazakhstan, elected by the Assembly of People of Kazakhstan, covered from republican budget, at elections of deputies of the Mazhilis of the Parliament of the Republic of Kazakhstan, scheduled for January 11, 2021.

Yerlan Dauylbayev, member of the Central Election Commission of the Republic of Kazakhstan made a report on the first and second issues.

He reported that regular elections of deputies of the Mazhilis of the Parliament elected by the Assembly of People of Kazakhstan will be held on January 11, 2021. In accordance with the Constitutional Act on Elections, the right to nominate candidates belongs to the Council of the Assembly of People of Kazakhstan. Meeting of the Council of the Assembly of People of Kazakhstan on nomination of candidates for deputies of the Mazhilis was held on December 11 this year.

On December 14, 2020, documents on nomination of candidates for deputies of the Mazhilis of the Parliament of the Republic of Kazakhstan were submitted to the Central Election Commission of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

In accordance with the Constitution and the Constitutional Act "On Elections in the Republic of Kazakhstan" in order to be elected as deputy of the Mazhilis of the Parliament a candidate shall be a citizen of the Republic of Kazakhstan; the period of his/her residence on the territory of the Republic of Kazakhstan shall be for the period of last 10 years; his/her age must be at least 25 years. Citizens recognized as legally incompetent by court as well as held in places of imprisonment shall not participate in the elections. Persons with a criminal record that has not been canceled or redeemed in accordance with the procedure established by law cannot be candidates for deputies of the Mazhilis of the Parliament; as well as persons whose guilt in committing a corruption offense and corruption violation has been recognized by court.

Central Election Commission together with authorized state bodies carried out verification of persons included in the party list for election as a deputy of the Mazhilis and established compliance of these persons with the requirements of the Constitution and Constitutional Act "On Elections in the Republic of Kazakhstan".

In total, 9 candidates were nominated for deputies of the Mazhilis of the Parliament of the Republic of Kazakhstan by decision of the Council of the Assembly of People of Kazakhstan:

1. Sauytbek Abdrakhmanov - Deputy of the Mazhilis of the Parliament of the Republic of Kazakhstan of the VI convocation;

2. Avetik Amirkhanyan - Chairman of the West Kazakhstan Regional Armenian Ethnocultural Public Association "Masis"

3. Ilyas Bularov- Akim of Sartobe rural district of Kordai district of the Zhambyl region;

4. Natalya Dementyeva - Director of municipal state institution "Technical Lyceum" of education department of Kokshetau;

5. Yuri Lee - Chairman of the Association of Legal Entities "National Chamber of Collectors of Kazakhstan";

6.Vakil Nabiyev - Vice-president of the republican public association "Barbang Kurds Assosiation";

7. Shamil Osin - Head of "Shygys" farm;

8. Vladimir Tokhtasunov - General Director of ZhetysuOblGaz Limited Liability Partnership;

9. Abilfas Khamedov - Chairman of republican public association "Association of Azerbaijanis".

Following consideration of the first issue, members of the Central Election Commission adopted resolution "On registration of candidates for deputies of the Mazhilis of the Parliament of the Republic of Kazakhstan, nominated by the Council of Assembly of People of Kazakhstan."

On the second issue, Yerlan Dauylbayev reported that the Central Election Commission, establishes the form and text of the ballot for elections of deputies of the Mazhilis of the Parliament within its powers and also ensures their production. The form of ballot for voting on elections of deputies of the Mazhilis of the Parliament of the Republic of Kazakhstan, elected by the Assembly of People of Kazakhstan was approved by the decree of the Central Election Commission of the Republic of Kazakhstan dated August 23, 2018 No. 11/192.

All 504 members of the Assembly are included in the voter list for elections of deputies of the Mazhilis of the Parliament of the Republic of Kazakhstan, elected by the Assembly of People of Kazakhstan. In this regard, the number of ballots to be produced including a reserve of one percent of the total number of voters, i.e. members of the Assembly of the People of Kazakhstan - 509 (five hundred and nine) pieces.

All registered candidates shall be included in the ballot indicating surname, first name, patronymic in the alphabetical order of the state language.

Secretary of Central Election Commission Sabila Mustafina made a report on the third issue of the meeting. She said that in accordance with the electoral legislation, state shall guarantee candidates an equal allocation of funds for speaking with their programs in media. Procedure and volume of allocation of funds for speaking in media to candidates shall be determined by the Central Election Commission.

According to resolution of the Central Election Commission “On Approval of Rules and Amounts of Allocation of Funds to Candidates for Speaking in Media” dated August 25, 2018, No. 12/2020, it is envisaged to allocate funds for a candidate to speak with his/her programs in media: on television - 15 minutes; on the radio - 10 minutes; for publications in periodicals or online publications, two articles no more than 0.1 printed sheet.

According to the Constitutional Act "On Elections in the Republic of Kazakhstan", republican budget also covers expenses of candidates for holding public pre-election events; issue of campaign materials; transportation costs, in amount established by the Central Election Commission.

In connection with above, members of the Central Election Commission adopted a Resolution "On establishing amount of expenses of candidates for deputies of the Mazhilis of the Parliament of the Republic of Kazakhstan, elected by the Assembly of People of Kazakhstan covered from republican budget at elections of deputies of the Mazhilis of the Parliament of the Republic of Kazakhstan, scheduled for January 11, 2021".

Resolution establishes the amount of the candidate's expenses in the amount of 870,000 KZT (eight hundred seventy thousand) of which were allocated for: speaking with programs on television and radio as well as the publication of 2 articles in periodicals - in the amount of 590,000 KZT; holding public pre-election events and issuing campaign materials in the amount of 130,000 KZT; transportation costs - in the amount of 150,000 KZT.

After the meeting, briefing for the media took place, at which members of the CEC answered questions from the media.