On August 3, 2022, a meeting of the

of the Central Election Commission of the Republic of Kazakhstan was held

On August 3, 2022, a meeting of the Central Election Commission of the Republic of Kazakhstan, under the chairmanship of Nurlan Abdirov, on the organization and conduct of elections of deputies of the Senate of the Parliament of the Republic of Kazakhstan from the regions of Abay, Zhetysu and Ulytau, appointed by the Decree of President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev for August 24, 2022, was held.

The meeting was attended by chairpersons of territorial election commissions of Abay, Zhetysu and Ulytau oblasts.

During the meeting three questions on the agenda were considered:

1) "On the results of nomination and registration of candidates for the Senate of the Parliament of the Republic of Kazakhstan from Abay, Zhetysu and Ulytau oblasts;

2) Completion of ballots for elections to the Senate of the Parliament of the Republic of Kazakhstan from Oblasts Abay, Zhetysu, and Ulytau, scheduled on August 24, 2022;

3) "On approval of the Regulations of using the functional of the web-site of the Central Election Commission of the Republic of Kazakhstan during the elections of Senate Deputies of the Parliament of the Republic of Kazakhstan from Abay, Zhetysu and Ulytau regions, scheduled on August 24, 2022".

Opening the meeting, Chairman of the Central Election Commission Mr. Nurlan Abdirov briefed on the progress of the election campaign for the elections to the Senate of the Parliament of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

On the first item on the agenda, Chairmen of Territorial Election Commissions of Abay, Zhetysu and Ulytau regions reported on the results of nomination and registration of candidates for the Senate of the Parliament of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

In total 33 candidates have been nominated for 6 mandates in three regions. All candidates were nominated through self- nomination, including 2 candidates in Zhetysu region also nominated by maslikhats of Alakol and Kerbulak regions. One candidate in Zhetysu Region and one in Abay Region withdrew his candidacy at his personal request before registration.

By occupation group: out of 31 nominated candidates: 10 - employees of commercial structures; 12 - employees of akims and maslikhats; 8 - employees of state enterprises, institutions and organizations; 1 - employees of political parties and NGOs.

By party affiliation: 24 - members of "AMANAT" party; 1 - member of Democratic Party "Ak Zhol"; 2 - non-partisans; 4 - did not indicate party affiliation.

By gender composition: 10 women and 21 men.

All candidates were checked for compliance with legal requirements.

According to Article 73 of the Constitutional Act "On Elections in the Republic of Kazakhstan", registration of candidates is subject to the following documents:

1) statement of intention (consent) to run as a candidate for deputies;

2) report of regional election commission on results of check of signatures of electors in support of candidate

3) curriculum vitae of the candidate;

4) certificate from the state revenue agency about the submission by the candidate and his/her spouse of declarations of assets and liabilities;

5) document confirming the payment of electoral fee by the candidate.

Of the 31 nominated candidates: 10 - did not submit all documents required for registration; 3 - did not submit the required number of signatures in their support.

As of 3 August 2022, a total of 18 candidates were registered (6 in each region).

• By group of occupations: 11 - employees of akims' and maslikhats' apparatuses; 4 - employees of commercial structures; 3 - employees of state enterprises, institutions, organizations.

• By party affiliation: 14 - members of AMANAT party; 4 - did not indicate party affiliation.

• By gender composition: 5 women and 13 men.

• Registration of candidates for deputies to the Senate of the Parliament of the Republic of Kazakhstan from Oblasts Abay, Zhetysu, and Ulytau ended on 3 August at 6 p.m.

On the second question, Assylbek Smagulov, member of the Central Election Commission, made a report.

According to the report, in accordance with subparagraph 6) of Article 12 of the Constitutional Act "On Elections in the Republic of Kazakhstan" The Central Election Commission of the Republic of Kazakhstan, in accordance with its powers establishes the form of ballot papers for voting at the elections of deputies of the Senate of the Parliament, the procedure for their production, as well as the degree of protection, and also ensures the production of ballot papers for the elections of deputies of the Parliament.

The degree of protection of the ballot paper is established for each election campaign. Provides for the polygraphic methods of protection, applied by offset printing, color, font printing and others. The ballot paper shall include all the registered candidates with their surname, first name, patronymic (if it is mentioned in the identity document) in the alphabetical order of the state language and the line "Against all".

According to article 37 of the Constitutional Act on Elections, ballot papers are made with a margin of 1 percent of the total number of voters in the constituency (oblast electors).

According to the requirements of the Constitutional Act on Elections, the room where the ballot papers are kept shall be sealed and guarded by the bodies of internal affairs.

In accordance with articles 24, 25, 26 of the Constitutional Act on Elections, lists of electors for the elections of deputies of the Senate of the Parliament are compiled by the territorial electoral commission of the region at the presentation of the secretary of the regional maslikhat.

The list of electors shall include all deputies of maslikhats located on the territory of a region.

The list of electors on the elections of deputies of the Senate is presented for familiarization by publication in the local mass media, as well as posted on the oblast maslikhat's Internet resource not less than seven days before the elections.

Voters are provided with an opportunity to get acquainted with the lists in the premises of the election commission, as well as to check the accuracy of the data entered in them about the voters.

Based on the norms of the Constitutional Act on Elections, a resolution on 'Preparation of ballot papers for voting at the elections of deputies to the Senate of the Parliament of the Republic of Kazakhstan from Abay, Zhetysu, and Ulytau oblasts, to be held on 24 August 2022' has been adopted.

According to the resolution, electoral commissions of Oblasts Abay, Zhetysu and Ulytau are entrusted with producing ballot papers for voting at the elections to the Senate of the Parliament of the Republic of Kazakhstan from Oblasts Abay, Zhetysu and Ulytau, scheduled for August 24, 2022, in the number equal to the number of electors of the corresponding administrative-territorial unit, with reserve of 1% of the total number of electors. The decree also establishes the degree of security of ballot papers.

Shavkhat Utemisov, member of the Central Election Commission, spoke on the third item of the meeting.

The reporter submitted a draft resolution "On Approval of Regulations on the use of the functional of the Central Election Commission of the Republic of Kazakhstan Internet resource during the elections of senators of the Parliament of the Republic of Kazakhstan from Abay, Zhetysu and Ulytau regions, scheduled for August 24, 2022" for consideration by the members of the Central Election Commission.

According to the resolution, with the purpose of operative informing stakeholders of the electoral process about the progress of election of a deputy of the Senate of the Parliament and providing information on the site of the Central Election Commission in real time about the attendance of electors, and preliminary results of voting, it is suggested to use the additional functional of

the internet resource of the CEC on the voting day of August 24, 2022.

The use of the functional is based on the provision of clause 7 of Article 50-1 of the Constitutional Act "On Elections in the Republic of Kazakhstan": "the procedure for using the electronic electoral system in the part not regulated by this Constitutional Act shall be established by the Central Election Commission".

This system is implemented in compliance with the legislation on personal data and their protection, information security.

In order to resist possible cyber-attacks and unauthorized access attempts from outside, a data exchange protocol (SSL certificate) was installed, which ensures a secure connection of the Internet resource users.

The functionality of the CEC's Internet resource is designed for electronic registration of electors and summing up preliminary results of voting, with their display on the CEC's Internet resource.

In order to cover the progress of elections on the day of voting, information messages displaying the electors' turnout chart and preliminary results of voting will be available for visitors on the main page of the CEC website.

In the organizational practice of the Central Election Commission, electronic support of the elections of deputies to the Senate of the Parliament of the Republic of Kazakhstan has been implemented since 2017 and was successfully used in the regular elections of deputies to the Senate of the Parliament of the Republic of Kazakhstan held on 28 June 2017 and 12 August 2020, elections of deputies to the Senate of the Parliament of the Republic of Kazakhstan from Shymkent city held on 5 October 2018 and 24 June 2019, and in the elections of a deputy to the Senate of the Parliament of the Republic of Kazakhstan from Almaty region instead of the withdrawn, held

At the end of the meeting, Nurlan Abdirov, Chairman of the Central Election Commission, stressed that the upcoming elections of the Senate deputies of the Parliament from the oblasts of Abay, Zhetysu and Ulytau should be held in accordance with the law, in a transparent and competitive manner.