On June 3, 2022 the Central Referendum Commission of the Republic of Kazakhstan held a regular meeting

On June 3 this year, under the chairmanship of Nurlan Abdirov, a regular meeting of the Central Referendum Commission of the Republic of Kazakhstan was held.

The meeting was attended by representatives of the General Prosecutor's Office, Ministries of Foreign Affairs, Information and Public Accord, mass media, members of territorial referendum commissions of regions, Nur-Sultan, Almaty and Shymkent cities.

Representatives of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE/ODIHR) Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) Referendum Assessment Mission and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) Observer Mission also took part in the meeting.

During the meeting three issues were considered on the agenda:

1.    "On the readiness of the referendum precincts for the June 5, 2022 Republican Referendum Voting Day."

2.      "On liability for violation of the Republican Referendum legislation";

3.   «On the progress of consideration of appeals of individuals and legal entities, received by the Central Commission of Referendum of the Republic of Kazakhstan during the period of preparation of the republican referendum, scheduled for June 5, 2022».

Within the framework of the first question of the session, the representatives of the territorial commissions for referendum reported via videoconferencing about the readiness of the polling stations for the voting day.

Voting ballots, informative and methodical materials were delivered, organizational and technical equipment at all the polling stations is completed. The Central Referendum Commission stated that the polling stations were ready for the voting day.

Nurlan Abdirov, drew the attention of territorial commissions to the fact that the voting day must pass in strict conformity with the norms of the Constitutional Law "On Republican Referendum".

Also as part of the first question, Ambassador for Special Assignments of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan Jalgas Adilbayev reported on the delivery of ballots to polling stations abroad and their readiness.

According to the law, citizens of Kazakhstan who will be abroad on voting day can vote at polling stations set up outside the territory of the Republic.

As Jalgas Adilbayev noted, 65 precinct referendum commissions were established in 52 foreign countries under the auspices of the Republic of Kazakhstan. All 325 members of PCRs were remotely trained and tested according to the program "Republican Referendum: legal basis and organization of work of commissions of referendum".

Based on preliminary lists of citizens of the RK staying abroad and having the active right to vote, presented by the RK foreign institutions, the number of citizens having the right to vote at the referendum was 11,350. Taking into account the reserve of 1%, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the RK was allocated 11,450 ballots.

As of June 3, 2022 ballots and corresponding materials necessary for voting were delivered to 55 polling stations at the RK foreign missions. Delivery to the remaining 10 polling stations is pending.

On the second question of the meeting concerning responsibility for violation of legislation on republican referendum and also conditions of campaigning Chairman paid attention of republican referendum participants that today at midnight is the end of campaigning and June 4, from 00.00 hours is the day of silence.

"On the day of silence and on the day of the referendum any actions related to the agitation are prohibited and there is a legal responsibility for this by the legislation", - said Nurlan Abdirov.

As part of the second item on the agenda, Vice-Minister of Information and Social Development Nurgul Mauberlinova made a report: "On campaigning in the media before the national referendum, as well as monitoring of the information space".

The Speaker noted that the Ministry of Information and Social Development of the Republic of Kazakhstan has done a lot of work to inform citizens about the preparation and holding of the referendum. More than 8 500 materials (more than 3000 on TV channels, 2600 in newspapers and about 2800 at Internet resources) dedicated to the forthcoming referendum have been published in mass media. On the air of the republican TV channels 50 video clips were rotated with the total number of outputs - more than 2500, on the air of the regional TV channels 40 video clips were rotated more than 5000 times.

The organizational work of the Central Referendum Commission was widely covered. About 700 materials (160 on TV channels, more than 150 - in newspapers and about 400 on Internet resources) were dedicated to activities carried out by CRC.

Nurgul Mauberlinova also reported that in order to control the observance of RK legislation on Republican Referendum the round- the-clock monitoring of information field was organized.

In the period of campaigning from May 5 to June 3 legal monitoring covered 61 national mass media (19 TV channels and 42 newspapers), 342 regional mass media (30 TV channels and 312 newspapers) and more than 130 popular Internet resources (82 national and 50 regional).

The monitoring was conducted for observance of two main requirements by mass media: first - prohibition to place anonymous propaganda materials, i.e. materials without proper marking containing information about the organization which issued them, the place of their printing and circulation, the persons responsible for their release; second - prohibition of propaganda of violent change of the constitutional system, violation of the Republic

integrity, undermining of state security, war, social, racial, national, religious, class and clan superiority as well as cult.

According to the results of the monitoring, no facts of violation of legal requirements for campaigning during the period of preparation of the referendum were revealed.

As for the propaganda materials, previously placed on the Internet resources, they can remain in their previous places, except for their withdrawal to the main page of the site.

Also, previously posted information materials explaining the date, conditions of the referendum, voting procedure, etc., including advertising banners, can remain in the same places.

Besides, the deputy prosecutor general Bulat Dembaev made a report: "About responsibility for violation of legislation on republican referendum".

According to the speaker, all the referendum events are held in accordance with the requirements of the Constitutional Law "On Republican Referendum". No violations have been registered, including in the course of campaigning.

Since the day the referendum was announced, only 18 appeals regarding this matter have been filed with the prosecutor's office.

But none of them concerned violations of the legislation on referendum, therefore they were referred to the authorized state bodies according to their competence.

By virtue of Article 7 of the Constitutional Law "On Republican Referendum", on the day preceding the referendum and on the day of the referendum, i.e. on June 4 and 5, any agitation, including the one connected with publication of results of opinion polls or forecasts of referendum results, is prohibited.

If campaigning is held on these days - is punishable under Article 102 of the Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan on Administrative Violations (a fine of 15 MCIs for individuals, 20 MCIs for small enterprises or noncommercial organizations, 25 MCIs for medium enterprises, 35 MCIs for large enterprises).

Initiation of proceedings on an administrative offence under this article falls within the exclusive competence of prosecutors, cases are considered by the court.

The next two days are working days for the prosecutor's office. The General Prosecutor's Office, both at the central and local level, has established continuous communication with the referendum commissions and the state bodies concerned. A 24-hour watch is organized.

On the third question, Asylbek Smagulov, a member of the Central Commission for Referendum of the Republic of Kazakhstan, delivered his report "On progress in considering applications from individuals and legal entities received by the Central Referendum Commission of the Republic of Kazakhstan during the preparation for the national referendum". He marked that from the moment of announcement of referendum on May 5 till today CRC received 524 appeals from physical and juridical persons, out of them:

-   500 appeals, or 95%, by their content were absolutely identical and concerned the recall of their personal data in the formation of the lists of voters;

-   9 appeals of mass media, or 1.7% - concerning the provision of information on the issues of organizing the referendum;

- 7 appeals of public associations, or 1.4% - in the form of requests for the opportunity to participate as observers or representatives;

-   8 or 1,3% - other questions.

Territorial commissions of referendum received 35 appeals, from which more than a half or 23 appeals were received by Almaty City TCR (14 or almost 40%), and Aktobe oblast TEC (9 or every fourth). There are one reference each in Akmola, Atyrau and Pavlodar regions, three in Kostanay region, four in North Kazakhstan region, and two in Shymkent city.

Basically, these appeals concerned the procedure of preparation to the referendum and the lists of voters.

At the same time, not a single appeal was available for the capital, Almaty, Turkestan, Kzylorda, Karaganda, Zhambyl, West Kazakhstan and East Kazakhstan regions.

Asylbek Smagulov noted that such a small number of appeals indicates the proper work of territorial and precinct commissions in preparation for the referendum.

On all the appeals timely and detailed answers with references to the corresponding norms of law are given. As of today there are no answers to the appeals appealed to courts. Also, there are no facts of appealing the answers of territorial commissions to the CCR.

Nurlan Abdirov stressed that all appeals received by the Central Commission during the period of preparation of the referendum are considered according to the procedure and terms established by law. The work in this direction continues. Not a single appeal will be left without attention, all appeals will be answered according to their competence.

By results of session Nurlan Abdirov has noticed that in the period of preparation of the referendum more than 70 thousand members of the commissions were trained, methodological and practical assistance was given. In the course of exit events, members of the CRC consulted the commissions and answered questions on the organization of the referendum.

"Now it is important to ensure a high level of organization of the voting day - June 5. You have been entrusted with the responsible mission of holding the referendum. It is necessary to ensure maximum openness and transparency of the procedures for the nationwide voting. To provide citizens of our country with the opportunity to fully exercise their constitutional right to participate in a referendum. I also want to emphasize that the main requirement imposed on the organizers and participants of the referendum is strict compliance with the rule of law," said Nurlan Abdirov.