ASTANA — The Kazakhstan Institute of Public Development conducted a sociological survey on citizens’ awareness of the upcoming referendum on the draft of the new Constitution and their attitudes toward it, Kazinform reported on Mar. 4.
Photo credit: gov.kz
According to the results of a telephone survey, 81.8% of respondents are aware of the planned referendum. Of these, 33.7% are well-informed about it, while another 48.1% have heard something but do not know the details. 17.1% had not heard about the vote at all.
A high level of general awareness has been recorded in the Zhambyl, East Kazakhstan, Kyzylorda, and West Kazakhstan regions, as well as in the city of Almaty, where awareness exceeds 87%.
The survey showed that young people are highly aware of the upcoming referendum: 44.8% of young respondents said they are well-informed about it. The older generation is also mostly aware of the event, with 51.7% noting that they know something about it, though often without details.
Awareness also depends significantly on education level. Among citizens with higher education, 86.7% have heard about the referendum to some extent, compared to 74.3% among respondents with secondary specialized or vocational education.
The vast majority of respondents (76.9%) receive information about the constitutional reform and political events in the country from social media platforms such as TikTok, Telegram, Instagram, Facebook and VKontakte. One-third of respondents (33.3%) identify internet websites as their source of news. Television remains the main channel for 20.5% of the respondents.
When asked whether they plan to take part in an upcoming referendum scheduled for March 15, 72.8% of respondents answered affirmatively, emphasizing that they consider it their civic duty. Another 17.9% have not yet made a final decision, and 9.3% do not plan to vote.
High potential electoral activity was noted in the Turkistan, West Kazakhstan, Karagandy, Kyzylorda, Zhambyl, and South Kazakhstan regions, where the share of citizens who declared their readiness to go to polling stations ranges from 75% to 82.7%.
Young people (82.2%) and respondents aged 29 to 45 (76.3%) show the highest willingness to participate in the referendum. Among those with higher or general secondary education, the willingness to participate is about 74-75%.
According to the survey, the majority of citizens support the draft of the new Constitution: 89.2% are in favor. Of these, 52.8% fully support the draft law, and 36.4% “rather support” the proposed changes. The share of those who do not support the draft Constitution or have not yet made a choice stands at 10.8%.
The public opinion poll was conducted from Feb. 12 to Feb. 20. It was carried out on a national sample of adults aged 18 and over, accounting for gender, age, type of settlement, and region of residence.
The sample size was 1,200 respondents. The telephone survey covered residents of 17 regions and three national importance cities: Astana, Almaty, and Shymkent. Calls were made to both mobile and landline numbers. The survey was conducted as part of an official notification to the Central Election Commission.
