Young Voters Clubs of Kazakhstan presented their projects to promote 

electoral culture for the first time

During the Republican Forum “Youth and Elections” held in Kyzylorda, the Chairman of the Central Election Commission of the Republic of Kazakhstan Nurlan Abdirov met with members of the Young Voters Clubs from all regions of the country.

As part of the meeting, Club members presented their projects aimed at promoting electoral culture among the youth of Kazakhstan.

The main objective of the meeting was to establish regular direct dialogue between election commissions and young people. During the event, Club members presented the projects they are implementing and shared practical experience in developing electoral culture and engaging young citizens of Kazakhstan in electoral processes.

The event was initiated by the participants of the club movement themselves, including Meyirman Mendibai, a member of the Young Voters Club of the Kazaly District of Kyzylorda Region.

The meeting was attended by 60 members of Young Voters Clubs from all regions of the country, as well as the chairpersons of territorial election commissions of the regions and the cities of Astana, Almaty and Shymkent.

Opening the meeting, the Chairman of the CEC emphasized the institutional importance of the club movement as a key element in shaping electoral culture:

“Every year, more than 300,000 citizens of Kazakhstan obtain the right to vote for the first time. Our task is to make their first voting experience clear and accessible for them and to begin working with them in advance. It is important to build direct and meaningful dialogue with young people - this is what fosters responsible and conscious participation,” the Head of the CEC RK noted.

The presentations by Club members, who introduced applied solutions and initiatives in the electoral sphere already being implemented in the regions, generated great interest.

The initiator of the meeting, young activist Meyirman Mendibai from Kyzylorda Region, spoke about the work of the Young Voters Club in his region and proposed establishing an award for startup developers among young voters.

A member of the Young Voters Club of Almaty Bauyrzhan Makhanbet presented a set of innovative tools for informing young people - ranging from educational comics and a Telegram bot to the introduction of school and student election models, educational formats, and interaction with the deputy corps.

The Chairperson of the Young Voters Club of Uralsk Lias Sabyrzhan presented the practice of organizing elections for a student rector. He also put forward an initiative to develop an information module for young voters and to hold a national debate tournament on this topic.

A member of the Young Voters Club of Pavlodar Region Aisha Talasova presented her original project “How Elections Are Held: An Inside Look”, aimed at school students, as well as the experience of developing club activities in educational institutions and training leaders of youth initiatives.

A member of the Astana Club Azat Tengebayev addressed issues related to enhancing young people’s legal culture and civic engagement, as well as their practical participation in the referendum. The youth activist spoke about the use of AI chatbots and noted that, using Astana as an example, cartoons and short videos help explain the electoral process in a simplified and accessible format. The plans of the capital’s youth include launching the “Digital Shield” project to counter fake news, as well as a digital quest where participants will receive incentives for taking part and giving correct answers.

Students of Korkyt Ata Kyzylorda University Nurbol Onalbekov and Nurbek Abildayev presented the Qalqan AI project, aimed at countering cyber fraud and identifying fake resources.

Several initiatives proposed by the participants focused on the further institutional development of the club movement. Thus, Sanzhar Sagatbek, a student of the Zhetysu Construction and Technical College in Taldykorgan, proposed holding the forum on an annual basis. In turn, Liza Yesenbol from Akmola Region initiated the creation of a specialized online platform on elections, Aibek Kadraliyev from Zhambyl Region proposed holding forums and camps for members of the Young Voters Clubs, while his colleague Darkhan Baipak suggested more actively involving district clubs and introducing annual awards for the most active participants. Asylai Konysova from Karaganda proposed electing a chairperson of the republican Young Voters Clubs to coordinate the activities of regional clubs.

The Chairman of the Central Election Commission commended the active work of the clubs and presented letters of appreciation to Ruslan Murzhanov, a member of the Young Voters Club of Almaty and co-author of the “Voice from the Future” comic series, as well as to Ayazhan Mongebai, a 9th-grade student from Kyzylorda Region, who developed and created a series of comics using artificial intelligence technologies, which generated great interest among school students in the region.

Following the meeting, it was emphasized that the activities of the Young Voters Clubs go beyond individual initiatives and are acquiring a sustainable and systematic character. The Clubs are being formed as a platform that not only ensures engagement, but also promotes a deeper understanding of the electoral process, the development of legal culture, and the formation of a conscious attitude among young people toward the exercise of their electoral rights.

For reference: To date, Young Voters Clubs bring together more than 3,000 participants in 248 clubs across the country and represent a dynamically developing community integrated into the system of shaping electoral culture in the Republic of Kazakhstan.

On the same day, as part of the forum, a meeting was held with the chairpersons of regional territorial election commissions, during which key issues related to the organization and conduct of electoral campaigns were discussed.