ASTANA — Kazakhstan’s Vice Minister of Health and Chief State Sanitary Doctor Aizhan Yesmagambetova outlined several recommendations for the upcoming parliamentary and local elections amid the current epidemiological situation in Kazakhstan at a March 13 Central Election Commission (CEC) meeting.
Kazakh Vice Minister of Health Aizhan Yesmagambetova at a March 13 meeting of CEC. Photo credit: election.gov.kz.
Eight or more CEC members, observers, and election officials will be present at each polling location, as intended in the revised format of the March 19 election.
Yesmagambetova advised regulating the flow of people by not allowing crowds, maintaining air ventilation in the premises, and frequently cleaning the locations with disinfectants before and during voting.
Although the coronavirus situation in Kazakhstan is stable, with less than 100 cases per day, there is a more complicated situation regarding measles and seasonal epidemics of viral respiratory illnesses, flu, and pneumonia.
At the CEC meeting, CEC Chairman Nurlan Abdirov also informed that 11 organizations have notified the CEC of their intention to conduct public opinion surveys in compliance with the constitutional law.
However, according to the constitutional law on elections, it is not permitted to publish online five days before the election and on the day of voting the results of public opinion polls, election forecasts, other election-related research, or voting intentions. It is also prohibited to publish or reprint information regarding the survey results. March 13 was the last day to announce public opinion survey results.
