ASTANA – 69.43 percent of Kazakhstan’s eligible voters participated in the country’s presidential election on Nov. 20 as of 10 p.m. local Astana time, announced the Central Election Commission (CEC) at a press briefing on Nov. 20.
Polling stations closed throughout the country at 8 p.m. local Astana time. In the country’s five regions – Aktobe, Atyrau, West Kazakhstan, Kyzylorda and Mangystau, the voting was completed at 9 p.m. local Astana time due to the time zone difference.
The highest voter turnout is in the Zhetisu Region, 81.42 percent, while the lowest is in the city of Almaty, 28.72 percent. Almaty, a former capital and major business and financial center, showed low turnout at the 2019 presidential election as well.
Some polling stations at Kazakhstan’s diplomatic and consular posts abroad continue their work. As of 7 p.m. Astana time, the voter turnout abroad was 57.5 percent with nearly 7,400 people out of 12,841 registered casting their vote, according to the Kazakh Foreign Ministry.
Overall, there were 10,101 polling stations across Kazakhstan, including 68 at the country’s foreign missions in 53 countries. 11,950,485 voters were registered to vote.
A CEC statement on the final voter turnout is expected to be released tomorrow, Nov. 21 and final election results are expected by Nov. 22.
In total, 641 international observers, including 532 observers from 10 international organizations and 109 observers from 35 foreign countries, have been accredited by the CEC to observe the election.
Three public institutions – the Amanat Party Public Policy Institute, Institute of Complex Social Research, and Open Society International Institute for Regional Studies, conducted an exit poll and the results are expected at midnight on Nov. 21.
