On April 17-18, 2022, a working trip of the Chairman of the Central Election Commission Nurlan Abdirov took place to Pavlodar region

A working trip of the Head of the Central Election Commission Nurlan Abdirov to Pavlodar region took place.

On April 17, 2022, the CEC Chairman visited polling station No. 189, Zhanatilek village, Bayanaul district and got acquainted with the process of electing the akim of the rural district, the work of the precinct election commission.

He met with villagers and asked their opinion about the ongoing elections of the village akim.

The villagers noted that this is an important day, since for the first time they received the right to elect the akim themselves on an alternative basis.

On April 18, 2022, Nurlan Abdirov held a big meeting with representatives of political parties, NGOs, media, public opinion leaders, bloggers, members of the election commissions of Pavlodar region in the building "Kogamdyk kelisim". The event was attended by 300 people.

An active exchange of views took place on improving the electoral legislation and the electoral system.

Representatives of the public supported the initiative of the Head of State Kassym-Jomart Tokayev expressed in the Address to the people of Kazakhstan, on the mandatory withdrawal from political parties of the Chairman and members of the Central Election Commission.

At the same time, during the meeting, a lively exchange of views on the necessity and training by political parties and NGOs of the pool of their observers took place.

Azhar Sagandykova, the Chairman of the NSDP branch proposed further reducing the threshold for political parties to enter the Mazhilis from 5 to 3%. In her opinion, such a measure will contribute to the activation of parties in social and political life and increase the number of their representation in the highest legislative body.

Representatives of the NGO "Kazakh Society of the Blind" believe that if local executive bodies together with election commissions ensure physical accessibility of polling stations and the necessary conditions for voting, then voters with disabilities will actively participate in voting directly at polling stations, rather than at home, and they consider it important to vote precisely at the polling stations.

Fuat Satybayev, a representative of the Ak Zhol proposed equipping all polling stations with video surveillance equipment with the ability to broadcast it to the Internet. In his opinion, this will increase the confidence of citizens in the institution of elections.

Issues related to the introduction of electronic voting were raised. Almost all those present with the rare exception of some participants spoke in favor of maintaining the traditional voting using paper ballots. At the same time, some participants propose the introduction of electronic voting using stationary devices at polling stations. In their opinion, citizens should vote at the polling stations.

146 people took part in the traditional meeting of Nurlan Abdirov with students of various universities and colleges.

The head of the youth NGO, Rizat Rakhimzhanov shared his experience of participating “International Olympiad "Electoral Systems of the Countries of the World" in 2019 organized by the CIS Inter-Parliamentary Assembly and suggested holding similar events in our country. He also raised the issue of the need to introduce optional courses on electoral education in secondary and higher educational institutions. At the same time, in his opinion, training courses should be held in an interactive format.

Serik Zhartybekov, deputy of the regional maslikhat believes that under a proportional system, open party lists should be used in the elections of deputies to the Mazhilis and maslikhats. In his opinion, this makes it possible to vote not only for the party, but also for a specific candidate who can be represented in the deputy corps.

Rusana Samabekova, a representative of the environmental organization Zhasyl El proposed to reduce the amount of the election fee for candidates for deputies of the Mazhilis and maslikhats from among the youth and noted that this would encourage her to use her passive suffrage.

The participants of the meeting suggested election commissions actively use social networks as part of their outreach activities. In their opinion, due to such information resources, it is possible to increase the interest of young people in electoral processes.

From the side of the representative of the AMANAT party Daniyar Aityshev an interesting proposal was made to consider the possibility of creating a Youth platform at the Central Election Commission to discuss topical issues of the electoral process, including legal education of young people and increasing their electoral activity.

Participants noted the need to involve young people in the electoral process not only as volunteers and observers, but also as members of election commissions.

During the meeting a traditional online survey was conducted on topical issues of the electoral process. The results of the survey among young people showed the following: 37.5% of respondents support the introduction of electronic (stationary) voting; 60.2% of respondents believe that a candidate for the presidency of the country must know the state language and a linguistic exam is mandatory; 55.7% of the respondents answered that a citizen who had a criminal record cannot be nominated for elected positions of the President, deputy, akim. Also, 38.6% of respondents answered that a deputy elected on a party list cannot change his party affiliation.

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