On April 14-15, 2022, a working trip of the Chairman of the Central Election Commission Nurlan Abdirov to Semey took place

As part of a working trip to Semey, Chairman of the Central Election Commission Nurlan Abdirov held a number of meetings with the public.

On April 14, 2022, the head of the CEC visited Dostyk rural district, where he met with residents of the village of Shakaman and Akim Nurken Zharlikenov, elected on July 25, 2021.

The villagers expressed their support for the initiatives of President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev voiced in the Message of the President to the people of Kazakhstan dated March 16, 2022, regarding the further development of the electoral system.

The audience noted that one of the important features of the elections of rural akims is the right of voters to vote "Against all", which makes it possible to legitimately express an alternative position.

Speakers justifiably noted that candidates for akims in addition to practical work experience and authority must also have a higher education.

A meeting of the Chairman of the CEC with students of universities and colleges was held at the Shakarim University, in which 149 people took part.

In the format of an open conversation the youth received exhaustive answers to their questions related to the requirements of the electoral legislation regarding candidates for deputies of the Parliament and maslikhats, the procedure for organizing polling stations abroad, and the voting of military personnel.

Along with this issues of electronic voting including stationary and remote were raised.  

Young people note that the main advantage of electronic voting is its accessibility and the disadvantages in turn are associated with risks of ensuring information security.

One of the activists Yerkebulan Nurdilda stressed that today's youth are not sufficiently interested in participating in elections and such meetings contribute to their electoral activity.

According to student Sultan Bakytgali, candidates for elected positions must pass a linguistic exam for knowledge of the state language.

The traditional online survey on topical issues of the electoral process showed the following results: 39.6% of respondents support the introduction of electronic (stationary) voting; 74.7% of respondents believe that a candidate for the President of the country must know the state language and a linguistic exam is mandatory; 40.7% of the respondents answered that a citizen who had a criminal record cannot be nominated for elected positions of the President, deputy, akim. Also, 33.3% of respondents answered that a deputy elected on a party list cannot change his party affiliation.

Nurlan Abdirov's meeting with representatives of political parties, NGOs, mass media, public opinion leaders, bloggers, members of Semey election commissions took place on April 15 this year in the theater named after Abay. The event was attended by 469 people.

Issues of reforming the electoral system, modernizing electoral processes and increasing the level of trust of the electorate in the institution of elections were the focus of attention of the audience.

University lecturer Aman Rahmetulla positively assessed the initiatives of the Head of State. He believes that in the future more than half of the deputies of the Mazhilis of the Parliament and maslikhats should be elected by the majority principle.

The participants of the meeting put forward specific proposals for compilation of voter lists for which, in their opinion, it is necessary to ensure the synchronization of lists with a database of the Government for Citizens Corporation.

Public representative Kenes Otegenuly suggested replacing paper absentee ballots with electronic online applications to change  voting places. It was noted that today, in order to receive an absentee certificate a voter must personally apply to his precinct election commission. Citizens who are registered in one city and live in others find it difficult to do this due to large distances. If an online application system is introduced voters who want to vote outside their place of registration will have an opportunity to do so without leaving their homes.

The issues of ensuring openness and transparency in the activities of territorial and precinct election commissions, the prospects for the possibility of electronic voting, improving the legal literacy of all participants in the electoral process, including observers, representatives of political parties, and the media were discussed.

Meetings of the Chairman of the Central Election Commission with the public in Semey, as in other regions, were broadcast on social networks.

The next working trip of the Chairman of the Central Election Commission is scheduled to Pavlodar region on April 17-18 this year.