Kazakh Central Election Commission sums up Senate election results

The Kazakh Central Election Commission summed up the results of the Senate elections. A total of 20 Senate members were elected to the Upper House of the Parliament, each of them representing a certain region and one of three cities of national significance. Chairperson of the Central Election Commission Nurlan Abdirov noted that the elections were held in accordance with the principle of alternativeness and had a high level of competition. Abdirov added that on average six candidates competed for an open seat in the Senate. A total of 130 candidates for the Kazakh Senate elections were nominated throughout the country, 55 of them were included in the ballots.

 “Most of the Senate election candidates and those who received the parliamentary mandate were self-nominated. This indicates a growing personal political interest in civil society. According to the territorial election commissions, 91.7 percent, which is 2,904 out of 3,167 electors, took part in the elections,” Abdirov said.

“It has been identified that elections were held in all 17 regions of Kazakhstan, as well as in the cities of Astana, Almaty, and Shymkent. A total of 3,167 members of Maslikhats at all levels were added to the lists of electors. The ballot papers included 55 candidates. Based on the records of election commissions of regions and Astana, Almaty, and Shymkent cities on the results of vote counting, candidates who received more than 50 percent of votes are considered elected,” added Konstantin Petrov, Deputy Chairperson of the Central Election Commission of Kazakhstan.

The Central Election Commission noted that the election procedures were monitored by authorized representatives of candidates, as well as media representatives and observers from political parties, public associations, and non-profit organizations. All the necessary information was available online on the additional CEC Internet resource.