Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights - Elections

In response to an invitation from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan, the OSCE/ODIHR has deployed an Election Observation Mission for the 4 December presidential election.

The Majilis, the lower House of Parliament, called the presidential elections on 7 September, following a ruling by the Constitutional Council that presidential elections should take place in December 2005, rather than in December 2006.

The candidate registration process ends on 24 October, and the election campaign begins on 25 October.

A candidate is elected if he or she receives at least 50 per cent of the votes cast. If no candidate receives an absolute majority, a second round between the two candidates with the most votes is held within a period of two months.

Long-term observation

The Mission, headed by Ambassador Audrey Glover of the United Kingdom, consists of 13 international staff based in Astana and Almaty and 28 long-term observers deployed in the regions.

The Mission will assess the entire electoral process in terms of its compliance with OSCE commitments for democratic elections, other international standards, and national legislation. The Mission will focus on the election campaign, the legislative framework and its implementation, the media situation, the work of the election administration and relevant government bodies, and the resolution of election-related disputes. The Mission will also follow the implementation and use of Kazakhstan's electronic voting system, which the Central Election Comission plans to operate in up to 20 percent of polling stations.

Election day

The ODIHR has requested 400 short-term observers to be deployed immediately prior to the 4 December election. These observers will be joined by a delegation from the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly. The short-term observers will be deployed around the country in multi-national teams of two to monitor the opening of polling stations, the voting, the counting of ballots, and the tabulation of results, including the use of information technology in these important elements in the electoral process.

The day after the election, the Election Observation Mission will issue a statement of preliminary findings and conclusions.

A final report on the observation of the entire election process will be issued approximately six weeks after the end of the Election Observation Mission.

Previous elections

The ODIHR observed parliamentary and presidential elections in Kazakhstan in 1999, held in January and October, respectively, and parliamentary elections in September/October 2004. Previous elections have fallen short of meeting OSCE commitments for democratic elections.