Chairman of CEC visited East Kazakhstan Region
March 3, 2023
Chairman of Central Election Commission Nurlan Abdirov within the framework of preparation and carrying out the elections to Mazhilis of the Parliament and Maslikhats of the Republic continues his inspection visits to regions.
On March 2-3, he visited the West Kazakhstan oblast where he got acquainted with the work of territorial election commission, checked readiness of polling stations and held the meeting with heads of regional structures of state bodies on preparation to the coming elections. Shavkhat Utemisov, a member of the Central Election Commission, and responsible members of the CEC staff also took part in the visit.
The first day of the visit Nurlan Abdirov started with a visit to the local, regional and city election commissions in Uralsk, where he familiarized with the organization of the ongoing election campaign.
Then the head of the Central Election Commission visited the local election commissions and district commissions in Baiterek region.
Particular attention was paid to the readiness of precincts for the voting day and creation of necessary conditions for voting of citizens, including for people with disabilities and special needs.
At some polling stations, the CEC Chairman gave specific recommendations to the members of precinct commissions for more convenient layout of the desks of members of commissions and places for representatives of public associations in the rooms for voting. He also drew the attention of the members of the commissions to the importance of providing the necessary overview for representatives of national and international observers, mass media during the voting and counting procedures.
The head of the Central Election Commission also emphasized the quality of ballot boxes, stressing that the number of ballots will at least double during the upcoming elections, so this aspect is also important.
He also drew the commissions' attention to the mandatory knowledge of the rules of conduct at the polling stations on election day and emphasized that all participants in the electoral process, including observers, candidates' proxies and the media must be obligatorily familiarized with the content of these rules from the moment they arrive at the polling station.
At the polling stations the head of the CEC was clearly demonstrated the work of online service for checking the data on the place of registration of citizens on the E-government portal.
During the meetings the CEC Chairman also asked the members of the district commissions about the problematic issues that they faced during the nomination and registration of candidates in the current election campaign, explained all the legislative innovations and features of the campaign and also stressed the need for continuous and quality training of all members of the commissions, which should be completed before the voting day by getting the relevant certificate.
Nurlan Abdirov called the members of the commissions to be prepared for the fact that voters now have the right to recall the mandate of deputies in connection with their failure to fulfill their electoral programs and promises. In such cases, according to the law, new elections will be scheduled, so the work of the territorial, district and precinct election commissions takes on a permanent nature.
The second day of the trip started with a meeting chaired by Nurlan Abdirov and attended by heads of local executive bodies, regional prosecutor's office, departments of police, labor and social protection, territorial election commissions, representatives of election headquarters of candidates, members of the OSCE ODIHR Election Observation Mission Thomas Holzer (Switzerland) and Elena Balandina (Russian Federation) as well as media representatives.
In his opening speech, the CEC Chairman Nurlan Abdirov elaborated on the importance and peculiarities of the current election campaign, highlighted novelties of the election laws, and told about the main results of the stages of nomination and registration of the lists of political parties and single-mandate candidates.
During the meeting Chairman of CEC listened to the reports on work carried out in the region on voter's lists, organizational, material and technical support of elections, creation of necessary conditions for physical accessibility of polling stations for citizens with disabilities, timely delivery of ballots to polling stations and other important issues.
Deputy Akim of the region Bakytzhan Narymbetov informed the participants of the meeting about the readiness of election infrastructure and the issues of informing citizens.
In particular, he reported that 689 election commissions operate in the region, including 14 territorial, 171 district and 504 precinct election commissions. The number of voters in the voter lists of the region was 442,350 people.
In order to inform voters, there are Call Centers, mobile application Smart Uralsk was developed, and there is also a telegram-bot, where citizens can check themselves in the voter lists and get all the necessary information.
He also noted that the region has 541 locations for printed campaign materials and 262 locations for meetings of the candidates with the voters.
Chairman of CEC drew the attention of Deputy Akim of the region to the need to ensure conditions for citizens in case of adverse weather conditions on election day (snow, ice, etc.), as well as uninterrupted heat and electricity supply to all polling stations.
Chairman of territorial election commission East Kazakhstan region Gaisa Kapakov informed that in the region with the purpose to inform citizens more than 200 banners about elections are established, more than 8000 motivating posters are printed. For each citizen, included in the lists of electors (442,350 people), personal invitations for elections are prepared, which will be handed over from March 4.
Gaisa Kapakov reported that special attention in the material and technical support of the polling stations was given to persons with disabilities, of whom there are 2,182 in the region. Members of precinct election commissions established personal contacts with 493 people confined to wheelchairs, 1336 with vision loss and 353 with hearing loss. The places for voting fully meet their needs.
In addition to this topic, Alpamys Kushkinbaev, head of the regional department for coordination of employment and social programs, reported that on the day of voting, persons with visual impairment or total loss of sight will be provided with audio versions of the procedure for filling out the ballot, hearing election information, additional lighting and optical correction means (magnifying glass).
Voters in wheelchairs will be provided with the convenience of booths for secret voting and movement, as well as accessibility of familiarization with the information materials. For people with speech or hearing impairments sound amplifiers and headphones will be installed.
Services of sign language interpreters, including online interpreting services, are also provided. On Election Day, Invataxi service will be obligatory in the region.
CEC Chairman stressed that the bodies coordinating employment and social protection should pay special attention to people with disabilities of groups 1 and 2, as well as to the elderly and to prepare all the necessary conditions for voting.
Zhanbolat Zhanshin, first deputy head of the police department, reported on the measures taken to ensure law and order in the region on the day of voting. He reported that in order to ensure law and order during the preparation and conduct of elections, police personnel will be transferred to a reinforced version of duty.
Addressing the representative of the Police Department, Nurlan Abdirov marked the inadmissibility of presence of the police officers at the polling stations on the voting day without inviting the PEC chairperson, and also gave instructions to protect the ballot papers.
Also, the regional prosecutor, Serik Shalabaev, spoke at the meeting and informed about the oversight of compliance with the law by all participants in the electoral process.
Closing the meeting, Nurlan Abdirov, Chairman of the Central Election Commission, called upon all participants of the electoral process in the region to make all efforts to conduct elections in strict accordance with the requirements of the law, openly and transparently.
As part of the meeting with members of territorial and precinct election commissions, a training on training of members of commissions was held with the use of business game Voting Day. The aim of the training is a high quality assimilation by members of electoral commissions of all voting procedures, acquisition of practical skills of work with the list of citizens having the right to participate in elections, with absentee certificates, with oral and written applications of citizens, communicating with representatives of public associations.
As a result of the two-day seminar-meeting, Nurlan Abdirov gave a number of specific instructions to the chairmen of territorial election commissions on information and technical equipment of polling stations, their accessibility and convenience for citizens, including for persons with disabilities, providing conditions for effective observation on election day. All these issues will be under control of the Central Election Commission.
On March 2-3, he visited the West Kazakhstan oblast where he got acquainted with the work of territorial election commission, checked readiness of polling stations and held the meeting with heads of regional structures of state bodies on preparation to the coming elections. Shavkhat Utemisov, a member of the Central Election Commission, and responsible members of the CEC staff also took part in the visit.
The first day of the visit Nurlan Abdirov started with a visit to the local, regional and city election commissions in Uralsk, where he familiarized with the organization of the ongoing election campaign.
Then the head of the Central Election Commission visited the local election commissions and district commissions in Baiterek region.
Particular attention was paid to the readiness of precincts for the voting day and creation of necessary conditions for voting of citizens, including for people with disabilities and special needs.
At some polling stations, the CEC Chairman gave specific recommendations to the members of precinct commissions for more convenient layout of the desks of members of commissions and places for representatives of public associations in the rooms for voting. He also drew the attention of the members of the commissions to the importance of providing the necessary overview for representatives of national and international observers, mass media during the voting and counting procedures.
The head of the Central Election Commission also emphasized the quality of ballot boxes, stressing that the number of ballots will at least double during the upcoming elections, so this aspect is also important.
He also drew the commissions' attention to the mandatory knowledge of the rules of conduct at the polling stations on election day and emphasized that all participants in the electoral process, including observers, candidates' proxies and the media must be obligatorily familiarized with the content of these rules from the moment they arrive at the polling station.
At the polling stations the head of the CEC was clearly demonstrated the work of online service for checking the data on the place of registration of citizens on the E-government portal.
During the meetings the CEC Chairman also asked the members of the district commissions about the problematic issues that they faced during the nomination and registration of candidates in the current election campaign, explained all the legislative innovations and features of the campaign and also stressed the need for continuous and quality training of all members of the commissions, which should be completed before the voting day by getting the relevant certificate.
Nurlan Abdirov called the members of the commissions to be prepared for the fact that voters now have the right to recall the mandate of deputies in connection with their failure to fulfill their electoral programs and promises. In such cases, according to the law, new elections will be scheduled, so the work of the territorial, district and precinct election commissions takes on a permanent nature.
The second day of the trip started with a meeting chaired by Nurlan Abdirov and attended by heads of local executive bodies, regional prosecutor's office, departments of police, labor and social protection, territorial election commissions, representatives of election headquarters of candidates, members of the OSCE ODIHR Election Observation Mission Thomas Holzer (Switzerland) and Elena Balandina (Russian Federation) as well as media representatives.
In his opening speech, the CEC Chairman Nurlan Abdirov elaborated on the importance and peculiarities of the current election campaign, highlighted novelties of the election laws, and told about the main results of the stages of nomination and registration of the lists of political parties and single-mandate candidates.
During the meeting Chairman of CEC listened to the reports on work carried out in the region on voter's lists, organizational, material and technical support of elections, creation of necessary conditions for physical accessibility of polling stations for citizens with disabilities, timely delivery of ballots to polling stations and other important issues.
Deputy Akim of the region Bakytzhan Narymbetov informed the participants of the meeting about the readiness of election infrastructure and the issues of informing citizens.
In particular, he reported that 689 election commissions operate in the region, including 14 territorial, 171 district and 504 precinct election commissions. The number of voters in the voter lists of the region was 442,350 people.
In order to inform voters, there are Call Centers, mobile application Smart Uralsk was developed, and there is also a telegram-bot, where citizens can check themselves in the voter lists and get all the necessary information.
He also noted that the region has 541 locations for printed campaign materials and 262 locations for meetings of the candidates with the voters.
Chairman of CEC drew the attention of Deputy Akim of the region to the need to ensure conditions for citizens in case of adverse weather conditions on election day (snow, ice, etc.), as well as uninterrupted heat and electricity supply to all polling stations.
Chairman of territorial election commission East Kazakhstan region Gaisa Kapakov informed that in the region with the purpose to inform citizens more than 200 banners about elections are established, more than 8000 motivating posters are printed. For each citizen, included in the lists of electors (442,350 people), personal invitations for elections are prepared, which will be handed over from March 4.
Gaisa Kapakov reported that special attention in the material and technical support of the polling stations was given to persons with disabilities, of whom there are 2,182 in the region. Members of precinct election commissions established personal contacts with 493 people confined to wheelchairs, 1336 with vision loss and 353 with hearing loss. The places for voting fully meet their needs.
In addition to this topic, Alpamys Kushkinbaev, head of the regional department for coordination of employment and social programs, reported that on the day of voting, persons with visual impairment or total loss of sight will be provided with audio versions of the procedure for filling out the ballot, hearing election information, additional lighting and optical correction means (magnifying glass).
Voters in wheelchairs will be provided with the convenience of booths for secret voting and movement, as well as accessibility of familiarization with the information materials. For people with speech or hearing impairments sound amplifiers and headphones will be installed.
Services of sign language interpreters, including online interpreting services, are also provided. On Election Day, Invataxi service will be obligatory in the region.
CEC Chairman stressed that the bodies coordinating employment and social protection should pay special attention to people with disabilities of groups 1 and 2, as well as to the elderly and to prepare all the necessary conditions for voting.
Zhanbolat Zhanshin, first deputy head of the police department, reported on the measures taken to ensure law and order in the region on the day of voting. He reported that in order to ensure law and order during the preparation and conduct of elections, police personnel will be transferred to a reinforced version of duty.
Addressing the representative of the Police Department, Nurlan Abdirov marked the inadmissibility of presence of the police officers at the polling stations on the voting day without inviting the PEC chairperson, and also gave instructions to protect the ballot papers.
Also, the regional prosecutor, Serik Shalabaev, spoke at the meeting and informed about the oversight of compliance with the law by all participants in the electoral process.
Closing the meeting, Nurlan Abdirov, Chairman of the Central Election Commission, called upon all participants of the electoral process in the region to make all efforts to conduct elections in strict accordance with the requirements of the law, openly and transparently.
As part of the meeting with members of territorial and precinct election commissions, a training on training of members of commissions was held with the use of business game Voting Day. The aim of the training is a high quality assimilation by members of electoral commissions of all voting procedures, acquisition of practical skills of work with the list of citizens having the right to participate in elections, with absentee certificates, with oral and written applications of citizens, communicating with representatives of public associations.
As a result of the two-day seminar-meeting, Nurlan Abdirov gave a number of specific instructions to the chairmen of territorial election commissions on information and technical equipment of polling stations, their accessibility and convenience for citizens, including for persons with disabilities, providing conditions for effective observation on election day. All these issues will be under control of the Central Election Commission.
Source: election.gov
