Elections in Kazakhstan

Ballot boxes, Kazakh flag and state seal in an Astana polling place before the 2007 legislative elections.

Elections in Kazakhstan are held on a national level to elect a President and the Parliament, which is divided into two bodies, the Majilis (Lower House) and the Senate (Upper House). Local elections for maslihats (local representative bodies) are held every five years.[1]

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

There are 7 legal political parties in Kazakhstan.[2] Kazakhstan’s political opposition is the most developed in the region in terms of its organizational abilities and resources.[3][need quotation to verify]

None of the elections held in Kazakhstan have been considered free or fair by Western countries or international observers[4] with issues noted including ballot tampering,[5][6] multiple voting,[6] repression of opposition candidates[7] and press censorship.[8] However, robust reforms have been implemented since 2019 and the OSCE ODI stated in its post-2021 parliamentary election report that "candidates were able to campaign freely."[9] The OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights has deployed election monitors to Kazakhstan at the invitation of the government for observation of parliamentary and presidential elections since 1999.[10]

  1. ^ Kazakhstan Archived 2008-06-19 at the Wayback Machine Legislation Online
  2. ^ "В Казахстане зарегистрирована партия Respublica" [Respublica party registered in Kazakhstan]. Kapital (in Russian). 18 January 2023. Archived from the original on 26 March 2024. Retrieved 21 January 2023.
  3. ^ Junisbai, Barbara (2005). "Democratic Choice of Kazakhstan: A Case Study in Economic Liberalization, Intra-elite Cleavage, and the Political Opposition" (PDF). Demokratizatsiya (Summer): 17. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2016-09-02. Retrieved 2016-03-16.
  4. ^ Kazakhstan's long term president to run in snap election – again Archived 2019-09-11 at the Wayback Machine, The Guardian, 11 March 2015
  5. ^ "Kazakhstan". Archived from the original on 20 February 2016. Retrieved 24 February 2016.
  6. ^ a b Isaacs, Rico (21 March 2011). Party System Formation in Kazakhstan. p. 94. ISBN 9781136791086. Archived from the original on 20 January 2023. Retrieved 31 October 2020.
  7. ^ Isaacs, Rico (21 March 2011). Party System Formation in Kazakhstan. p. 89. ISBN 9781136791086. Archived from the original on 20 January 2023. Retrieved 31 October 2020.
  8. ^ "VIOLATIONS OF THE RIGHT TO FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION". Archived from the original on 20 October 2012. Retrieved 24 February 2016.
  9. ^ "ODIHR Limited Election Observation Mission Final Report" (PDF). OSCE ODIHR. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2021-05-09. Retrieved 2021-05-23.
  10. ^ "Elections in Kazakhstan". osce.org. OSCE. Archived from the original on 2011-03-02. Retrieved 2011-04-18.