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[[File:KazakhBallotBox.jpg|thumb|200px|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 of Kazakhstan|President]] and [[Parliament of Kazakhstan|the Parliament]], which is divided into two bodies, the [[Majilis]] (Lower House) and the [[Senate of Kazakhstan|Senate]] (Upper House). Local elections for maslikhats (local representative bodies) are held every five years.<ref name=legison>[http://www.legislationline.org/?tid=1&jid=28&less=false Kazakhstan] Legislation Online</ref>

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

There are more than 10 [[List of political parties in Kazakhstan|political parties in Kazakhstan]]. Kazakhstan’s political opposition is the most developed in the region in terms of its organizational abilities and resources.<ref name="Demokratizatsiya">{{cite journal|last1=Junisbai|first1=Barbara|title="Democratic Choice of Kazakhstan: A Case Study in Economic Liberalization, Intra-elite Cleavage, and the Political Opposition,"|journal=Demokratizatsiya|date=2005|issue=Summer|page=17|url=https://www.gwu.edu/~ieresgwu/assets/docs/demokratizatsiya%20archive/GWASHU_DEMO_13_3/P236L64X5Q08KM12/P236L64X5Q08KM12.pdf}}</ref>{{quotation needed|date=March 2016}}

None of the elections held in Kazakhstan have been considered free or fair by Western countries or international observers<ref name="theguardian.com">[https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/mar/11/kazakhstan-president-early-election-nursultan-nazarbayev Kazakhstan's long term president to run in snap election – again], [[The Guardian]], 11 March 2015</ref> with issues noted including [[ballot tampering]],<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.europeanforum.net/country/kazakhstan#elections | title=Kazakhstan | accessdate=24 February 2016}}</ref><ref name="Rico Isaacs 94"/> [[Ballot stuffing|multiple voting]],<ref name="Rico Isaacs 94">{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=K3KrAgAAQBAJ&lpg=PA184&ots=rYqWG0LOy5&dq=kazakhstan%20elections%20multiple%20voting&pg=PA94#v=onepage&q&f=false | title=Party System Formation in Kazakhstan | author=Isaacs, Rico | pages=94}}</ref> [[Political repression|repression]] of opposition candidates]]<ref name="Rico Isaacs 89">{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=K3KrAgAAQBAJ&lpg=PA184&ots=rYqWG0LOy5&dq=kazakhstan%20elections%20multiple%20voting&pg=PA94#v=onepage&q&f=false | title=Party System Formation in Kazakhstan | author=Isaacs, Rico | pages=89}}</ref> and [[press censorship]].<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.hrw.org/reports/1999/kazakhstan/Kaz1099b-04.htm | title=VIOLATIONS OF THE RIGHT TO FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION | accessdate=24 February 2016}}</ref> The OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights has deployed election monitors to Kazakhstan for observation of parliamentary and presidential elections since 1999.<ref name="osce1999">{{cite web|title=Elections in Kazakhstan|url=http://www.osce.org/odihr/elections/kazakhstan|website=OSCE.org|publisher=OSCE}}</ref>

==Election procedures and technology==
[[File:KazakhVotingBooth.jpg|thumb|200px|[[Voting booth]]s, each with an AIS "Sailau" touch-screen electronic [[voting machine]].]]

In the recent{{when|date=April 2015}} 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]]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.<ref>[http://election.kz/portal/page?_pageid=153,77166&_dad=portal&_schema=PORTAL Chapter 7], Article 41, Paragraph 6, of the [http://election.kz/portal/page?_pageid=153,75186&_dad=portal&_schema=PORTAL Kazakh Election Law], as amended, June 2007.</ref>
This is an alternative to offering [[absentee ballot]]s or [[proxy voting]] for voters with disabilities that prevent them from going to the polls.

[[Electronic voting]] 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]]s that have been more widely studied.<ref>[[Douglas W. Jones]], The Sailau E-Voting System, [http://www.ifes.org/~/media/Files/Publications/Books/2011/20111026_Direct_Democracy_Progress_and_Pitfalls_Election_Technology_Yard.pdf Direct Democracy: Progress and Pitfalls of Election Technology], Michael Yard, ed., [http://www.ifes.org/ International Foundation for Electoral Systems], Sept. 2010; pages 74-95.</ref> In this system, the touch-screen voting terminal in the voting booth serves as a ballot marking device, recording selections on a [[smart card]]. 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.

On November 16, 2011, Kuandyk Turgankulov, head of the Kazakh Central Election Commission, said that the Sailau system would be discontinued because the voters prefer paper ballots, the political parties do not trust it, and the country lacks the funds required to update the system.<ref>[http://en.tengrinews.kz/politics_sub/5678/ Sailau e-system will not be used at Kazakhstan parliamentary elections in 2012], [http://en.tengrinews.kz Tengri News], Nov. 11, 2011.</ref>

==Election Financing==
Candidates for elected office in Kazakhstan can receive state financial support to cover campaign costs.<ref name=elections1>{{cite news|title=Senate elections in Kazakhstan to be held soon|url=http://en.tengrinews.kz/politics_sub/Senate-elections-in-Kazakhstan-to-be-held-soon-255208/|publisher=TengriNews}}</ref> In Senate elections, each candidate receives about $2,170.

In Senate races, the state budget pays for each candidate’s 15-minute TV address (115 thousand tenge, approx. $630), 10 minutes on the radio (60 thousand tenge, approx. $330), 2 articles in the media (105 thousand tenge, approx. $580), hall rent for meeting with the voters (20 thousand tenge, approx. $110), publication of printed campaign materials (25 thousand tenge, approx. $140) and traveling (for Oblasts - 70 thousand tenge, approx. $380; for Astana and Almaty cities - 35 thousand tenge, approx. $190).

==Observation==

There have been several international election observation missions organised in Kazakhstan. The [[OSCE]] has observed the elections.

{| class=wikitable style=text-align:right
!Elections
!date
!observing organisation
! head of mission
|-
|early [[Mazhilis|Majilis]]
|20160320
| [[ODIHR]]/[[OSCE]] <ref>http://www.osce.org/odihr/elections/kazakhstan/222541</ref>
| [[Boris Frlec]]
|-
|early [[Mazhilis|Majilis]]
|20160320
| [[executive committee]]/[[Commonwealth of Independent States|CIS]]
| [[Sergey Lebedev (politician)|Sergey Lebedev]]
|-
|[[Kazakhstani presidential election, 2015|early presidential]]
|20150426
| [[ODIHR]]/[[OSCE]] <ref>http://www.osce.org/odihr/elections/kazakhstan/145006</ref>
| [[Cornelia Jonker]]
|-
|early [[Mazhilis|Majilis]]
|20120115
| [[ODIHR]]/[[OSCE]] <ref name="osce.org">http://www.osce.org/odihr/elections/86313</ref>
| [[Miklós Haraszti]]
|-
|early [[Senate of Kazakhstan|senate]]
|20120115
| [[ODIHR]]/[[OSCE]] <ref name="osce.org"/>
| [[Miklós Haraszti]]
|-
|}

==Presidential elections==

Kazakhstan's [[president]] is elected by the people and serves for at most two five-year terms. Term limits were removed for the incumbent [[Nursultan Nazarbayev]] on 18 May 2007, when parliament also voted to reduce the term length from seven to five years.<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/6668229.stm Kazakh MPs lift presidency limit] BBC News</ref>

Early presidential elections were called by President Nazarbayev and were held on April 26, 2015.<ref name=2015prezelection>{{cite news|title=Kazakhstan president Nursultan Nazarbayev wins re-election with 97.7 per cent of vote|url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-04-27/kazakhstan-president-wins-nursultan-nazarbayev-re-election-97pc/6425952|agency=AFP/Reuters|date=April 27, 2015}}</ref> President Barack Obama sent a letter to President Nazarbayev congratulating him on his reelection in the April 26 election.<ref name=obamacongrats>{{cite news|title=Obama Recommits to Working with Nazarbayev in New Term|url=http://www.astanatimes.com/2015/04/obama-recommits-to-working-with-nazarbayev-in-new-term/|agency=The Astana Times}}</ref>

===2011 Presidential election===
{{main|Kazakhstani presidential election, 2011}}
{{Kazakhstani presidential election, 2011}}

==Parliamentary elections==

The [[legislature]], known as [[Parliament of Kazakhstan|the Parliament]] (''Parlamenti''), has two [[bicameralism|chambers]].

The [[Majilis|Assembly]] (''Mazhilis'') has 107 seats, elected for a five-year term, 98 elected in general elections by proportional representation with 7% threshold and 9 elected by the Assembly of Kazakhstani Nation.

The [[Senate of Kazakhstan|Senate]] 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]].

==International criticisms==
As of March 2015, none of the elections held in Kazakhstan have been considered free or fair by Western countries or international observers.<ref name="theguardian.com"/> The 1999 Presidential election attracted criticism from the [[United States]] and the [[Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe]] (OSCE) who considered that harassment and intimidation of opposition candidates and supporters and the disqualification of an opponent of Nazarbayev<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/222405.stm US criticises Kazakh Court decision], [[BBC News]], 26 November 1998</ref> had made a meaningful election impossible. The OSCE criticised the 2011 presidential election, citing a lack of press freedom, transparency and competition.<ref>[http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-pacific-12949853 Kazakhstan President Nazarbayev wins re-election], [[BBC News]], 4 April 2011</ref> Following the 2005 election, they noted a number of issues, including ballot tampering, multiple voting, intimidation and harassment of opposition candidates and their supporters, media bias and official restrictions on free expression.<ref>[https://www.theguardian.com/world/2005/dec/05/1 Observers criticise Kazakh president's re-election], [[The Observer]], 5 December 2005</ref>

===Latest election===
{{main|Kazakhstani legislative election, 2016}}

==Preliminary results==
{| class=wikitable style=text-align:right
!Party
!Votes
!%
!Seats
!+/–
|-
|align=left|[[Nur Otan]]|| ||82.15|| ||
|-
|align=left|[[Democratic Party of Kazakhstan Ak Zhol]]|| ||7.18|| ||
|-
|align=left|[[Communist People's Party of Kazakhstan]]|| ||7.14|| ||
|-
|align=left|[[Kazakhstani Social Democratic Party Auyl]]|| ||2.00|| ||
|-
|align=left|[[Nationwide Social Democratic Party]]|| ||1.18|| ||
|-
|align=left|Birlik|| ||0.29|| ||New
|-
|align=left|Invalid/blank votes|| ||–||–||–
|-
|align=left|'''Total'''||'''7,564,281'''||'''100'''||'''98'''||'''0'''
|-
|align=left|Registered voters/turnout||9,810,920||77.10||–||–
|-
|align=left colspan=5|Source: [http://www.election.kz/rus/news/releases/index.php?ID=3284 CEC]
|}

==Past elections==
{{Kazakhstani elections|state=uncollapased}}

==See also==
* [[Electoral calendar]]
* [[Electoral system]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*[http://election.kz/pls/portal/url/page/election_eng The Central Election Commission of the Republic of Kazakhstan]
*[http://psephos.adam-carr.net/countries/k/kazakhstan/ Kazakhstan Elections] Adam Carr's Election Archive
*[http://www.osce.org/odihr/elections/kazakhstan OSCE reports on Kazakhstani elections]
{{Asia topic|Elections in}}
{{Elections in Europe}}
{{Kazakhstan topics}}

[[Category:Elections in Kazakhstan| ]]
[[Category:Government of Kazakhstan|Elections]]

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