Elections in Kazakhstan
Encyclopedia
Elections in Kazakhstan are held on a national level to elect a President
President of Kazakhstan
President of Kazakhstan is the head of state, supreme commander-in-chief and holder of the highest office within the Kazakhstan. The authorities of this position are described in special section of Constitution of Kazakhstan....

 and the Parliament
Parliament of Kazakhstan
The Parliament of the Republic of Kazakhstan is the bicameral legislature of Kazakhstan, according to the 1995 Constitution of Kazakhstan. The lower house is the Majilis, with 77 seats, elected to four year terms, 67 in single seat constituencies and 10 by proportional representation...

, which is divided into two bodies, the Majilis
Majilis
The Majilis is the lower house of the bicameral Parliament of Kazakhstan, known as the Parlamenti, in the Government of Kazakhstan. The upper house of Parliament is the Senate of Kazakhstan. There are 77 seats, 67 in single seat constituencies and 10 by proportional representation, in the Majilis...

 (Lower House) and the Senate
Senate of Kazakhstan
The Senate of Kazakhastan is the upper house of two chambers in Kazakhstan's legislature, known as the Parliament . The Senate has 47 members, 40 of whom are elected for six-year terms in double-seat constituencies by the local assemblies, half renewed every two years; and 7 presidential...

 (Upper House). Local elections for maslikhats (local representative bodies) are held every five years.

Elections are administered by the Central Election Commission of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

Kazakhstan is a one party dominant state. This party is a union of several parties and it was elected in 2007. Opposition
Opposition (politics)
In politics, the opposition comprises one or more political parties or other organized groups that are opposed to the government , party or group in political control of a city, region, state or country...

 political parties
Political Parties
Political Parties: A Sociological Study of the Oligarchical Tendencies of Modern Democracy is a book by sociologist Robert Michels, published in 1911 , and first introducing the concept of iron law of oligarchy...

 are allowed, but are widely considered to have no real chance of gaining power.

Election procedures and technology

In the recent Kazakh elections, many Kazakh voters were offered a choice of voting on electronic voting machines or on paper ballots. At least some of
the ballot box
Ballot box
A ballot box is a temporarily sealed container, usually square box though sometimes a tamper resistant bag, with a narrow slot in the top sufficient to accept a ballot paper in an election but which prevents anyone from accessing the votes cast until the close of the voting period...

es used in Kazakhstan are transparent in order to defend against ballot box stuffing. Each polling place was equipped with both a large ballot box and smaller mobile ballot boxes. The latter are designed to be carried, by poll-workers, to voters outside the polling
place.
This is an alternative to offering absentee ballot
Absentee ballot
An absentee ballot is a vote cast by someone who is unable or unwilling to attend the official polling station. Numerous methods have been devised to facilitate this...

s or proxy voting
Proxy voting
Proxy voting has two forms: delegable voting and delegated voting, which are procedures for the delegation to another member of a voting body of that member's power to vote in his absence, and/or for the selection of additional representatives, as in the case with transitive proxies...

 for voters with disabilities that prevent them from going to the polls.

Electronic voting
Electronic voting
Electronic voting is a term encompassing several different types of voting, embracing both electronic means of casting a vote and electronic means of counting votes....

 in Kazakhstan is based on the AIS "Sailau" electronic voting system developed in Belarus and Kazakhstan. This system is best described as an indirect-recording electronic voting system, as opposed to the DRE voting machine
DRE voting machine
A direct-recording electronic voting machine records votes by means of a ballot display provided with mechanical or electro-optical components that can be activated by the voter ; that processes data by means of a computer program; and that records voting data and ballot images in memory components...

s that have been more widely studied. In this system, the touch-screen voting terminal in the voting booth serves as a ballot marking device, recording selections on a smart card
Smart card
A smart card, chip card, or integrated circuit card , is any pocket-sized card with embedded integrated circuits. A smart card or microprocessor cards contain volatile memory and microprocessor components. The card is made of plastic, generally polyvinyl chloride, but sometimes acrylonitrile...

. The voting terminal itself retains no record of the vote after the voter takes the smart card. The voter then takes the smart card containing the cast ballot record to the computer at the registration table that serves as the electronic ballot box where the permanent record of the vote is retained and tabulated.

Presidential elections

Kazakhstan's president
President
A president is a leader of an organization, company, trade union, university, or country.Etymologically, a president is one who presides, who sits in leadership...

 is elected by the people and serves for at most two five-year terms. Term limits were removed for the incumbent Nursultan Nazarbayev
Nursultan Nazarbayev
Nursultan Abishuly Nazarbayev has served as the President of Kazakhstan since the nation received its independence in 1991, after the fall of the Soviet Union...

 on 18 May 2007, when parliament also voted to reduce the term length from seven to five years.

Early presidential elections were called by President Nazarbaev. They will be held on 3 April 2011.

Latest election

Parliamentary elections

The legislature
Legislature
A legislature is a kind of deliberative assembly with the power to pass, amend, and repeal laws. The law created by a legislature is called legislation or statutory law. In addition to enacting laws, legislatures usually have exclusive authority to raise or lower taxes and adopt the budget and...

, known as the Parliament
Parliament of Kazakhstan
The Parliament of the Republic of Kazakhstan is the bicameral legislature of Kazakhstan, according to the 1995 Constitution of Kazakhstan. The lower house is the Majilis, with 77 seats, elected to four year terms, 67 in single seat constituencies and 10 by proportional representation...

 (Parlamenti), has two chambers
Bicameralism
In the government, bicameralism is the practice of having two legislative or parliamentary chambers. Thus, a bicameral parliament or bicameral legislature is a legislature which consists of two chambers or houses....

.

The Assembly
Majilis
The Majilis is the lower house of the bicameral Parliament of Kazakhstan, known as the Parlamenti, in the Government of Kazakhstan. The upper house of Parliament is the Senate of Kazakhstan. There are 77 seats, 67 in single seat constituencies and 10 by proportional representation, in the Majilis...

(Mazhilis) has 77 seats, elected for a four year term, 67 in single seat constituencies and 10 by proportional representation
Proportional representation
Proportional representation is a concept in voting systems used to elect an assembly or council. PR means that the number of seats won by a party or group of candidates is proportionate to the number of votes received. For example, under a PR voting system if 30% of voters support a particular...



The Senate
Senate of Kazakhstan
The Senate of Kazakhastan is the upper house of two chambers in Kazakhstan's legislature, known as the Parliament . The Senate has 47 members, 40 of whom are elected for six-year terms in double-seat constituencies by the local assemblies, half renewed every two years; and 7 presidential...

has 47 members, 40 of whom are elected to six-year terms in double-seat constituencies by the local assemblies, half renewed every two years, and 7 presidential appointees. In addition, ex-presidents are ex-officio senators for life.

The next parliamentary elections are scheduled for 2011, however government leaders have hinted that early elections may take place in the fall of 2009, in preparation for Kazakhstan's takeover of the OSCE chairmanship in 2010.

Latest Election

External links

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