On April 26-27, 2022, the head of the Central Election Commission Nurlan Abdirov took a working trip to the Karaganda region

A working trip of the Chairman of the Central Election Commission Nurlan Abdirov to the Karaganda region took place.

On April 26, the head of the CEC visited Karaganda rural district of the Abay district where he met with residents of the village of Zhartas and Vladislav Kirey elected akim on July 25, 2021. It should be noted that this is the youngest rural akim in the country elected by direct vote.

Akim shared his experience of participating in elections and noted that one of the most effective types of agitation in rural areas are personal meetings with the population. In turn, the CEC Chairman emphasized that candidates can also organize and conduct debates without any restrictions and this will help voters make an informed choice.

The villagers gave a positive assessment of the past elections of the village akim and the work of the akim elected by them.

April 27 this year Nurlan Abdirov held a big meeting with representatives of political parties, NGOs, public council, maslikhat, media, public opinion leaders, bloggers, members of election commissions in the building of the "Palace of Culture of Students" of Karaganda State University named after Y. Buketov. The event was attended by 558 people.

A meaningful discussion took place on the issues of further improvement of the electoral process voiced in the Address of the Head of State Kassym-Jomart Tokayev to the people of Kazakhstan.

The head of the regional branch of the NGO "Kazakhstan Confederation of the Disabled" Darkhan Tilemisov noted that public organizations of persons with disabilities support amendments to the electoral legislation including the 30% quota in the electoral party lists, along with women and youth, persons with disabilities. At the same time, in his opinion, it is necessary to provide for a similar quota for the election of deputies of maslikhats.

The secretary of the Bukhar-Zhyrau district maslikhat, Ali Askhat, proposed, as part of the introduction of the majoritarian system, to form compact constituencies and accordingly reduce the number of voters in a particular constituency. In his opinion, the optimal distance between settlements and the minimum number of voters in the constituency allow candidates for deputies to carry out campaigning more effectively.

Natalya Klymenko, who worked as the secretary of the precinct election commission for many years made a proposal to improve the status of members of election commissions who perform important functions assigned to them by the Constitutional Law.

Maira Abdrakhmanova, head of the NGO "Mukalmas" raised the issue of the competences of members of territorial and precinct election commissions. Yermek Abildin, the chairman of the Ak Zhol branch suggested that the territorial election commissions actively use social networks when informing the participants in the electoral process.

Sayat Rakhimov, a resident of Karaganda, stressed that meetings organized by the Central Election Commission help to increase voters' confidence in the elections and suggested introducing such a practice also at the level of regional territorial election commissions.

In the co-working center "Zhastar ortalygy" of Karaganda State University named after Y. Buketov, a meeting was held between the Chairman of the CEC and the youth of the region.

Young voters were interested in the introduction of a mixed electoral system. The head of the CEC noted that the majoritarian system would lead to greater competition among candidates. He also stressed that deputies elected according to this principle represent the interests of their electorate first of all, and not of party structures, which helps to increase their personal responsibility to the population.

According to student Umit Serikova, it is necessary to overcome stereotypes among young people associated with a lack of interest in elections. Student Marlen Kozhakhmetov proposed to provide for legal liability for non-participation in voting.

Zhadyra Minazhat, a student of KarSU, noted that this year she turned 18 and now she has the right to vote and stressed that during the meeting she received useful information about the voting procedure, about the electoral rights of citizens.

As in other regions, the possibility of introducing electronic voting was discussed, the experience of its application in Kazakhstan, taking into account both the benefits and risks.

The traditional online survey on topical issues of the electoral process showed the following: 34.3% of respondents support the introduction of remote electronic voting; 80% of respondents believe that a candidate for the President of the country must know the state language and a linguistic exam is mandatory; 60% of the respondents answered that a citizen who had a criminal record cannot be nominated for elected positions of the President, deputy, akim. Also, 45.7% of respondents answered that a deputy elected on a party list cannot change his party affiliation.

As a result of the meeting, Nurlan Abdirov handed the active participants a book: “The History of Elections in Kazakhstan”.

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