Upon the invitation of the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Observation Mission of the Cooperation Council of Turkic Speaking States (hereinafter referred to as the Mission) observed the early Parliamentary Elections of the Republic of Kazakhstan (hereinafter referred to as the election) held on 20 March 2016.

The Mission carried out its activities in accordance with the legislation of the Republic of Kazakhstan, as well as generally recognized rules of international election observation missions.

The Mission consisted of experts with comprehensive international election observation experience from Azerbaijan, Kyrgyzstan and Turkey, as well as the representatives of the Secretariat of the Cooperation Council of the Turkic Speaking States and the Turkic Academy was deployed on 17 March 2016 in Almaty and Kyzylorda cities.

In the framework of the observation of the pre-election process, the Mission met with the representatives of the political parties, as well as representatives of the territorial election commissions. Political parties have provided the Mission members with in-depth information about their campaign activities and candidate lists. No irregularities were reported to the Mission.

Throughout the Election Day, the Mission has conducted active observation of the voting procedures in 61 polling stations, 34 in Almaty and 27 in Kyzylorda. Voting procedures were implemented according to the legislation of the Republic of Kazakhstan. The precinct election commissions provided full access to international and local observers for active observation in all locations covered by our mission. Appropriate conditions were also provided for political parties and non-governmental organizations, to conduct broader observation aimed at transparency. Voting was conducted smoothly. Active voting was observed from noon hours until late afternoon during the Election Day. No case of illegal intervention by administrative or law enforcement authorities to the work of election commissions was observed. Regarding the right of free voting, no obstacles were observed in both cities.

Furthermore, the Mission observed the counting process at the two polling stations. Counting of votes was implemented by the election commissions in accordance with rules set out by the legislation of the Republic of Kazakhstan and tabulation of results was conducted in timely manner.

The active participation of the citizens in the voting, the good performances of the precinct election commissions, and free access for observers to all procedures can be singled out as the major findings of our observation mission.