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KAZAKHSTAN

COUNTRY	Republic of Kazakhstan
ELECTION TYPE	Parliamentary
DATE	September 19, 2004 (First Round) October 3, 2004 (Second Round)

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At stake in this election:

Description of government structure:

Chief of State: President Nursultan NAZARBAYEV
Head of Government: Prime Minister Daniyal AKHMETOV
Assembly: Kazakhstan has a bicameral Parliament which consists of the Senate with 39 seats and the Majilis with 77 seats.

Description of electoral structure:

The president is directly elected by popular vote for a seven-year term.
Of the 39 senators, seven are appointed by the president while the remaining 32 are elected by popular vote to serve six year terms. In the Majilis, 67 members are directly elected while the remaining 10 are chosen from the winning parties’ list. Members of the Majilis serve five-year terms.

Results from the parliamentary race:

Party: Republican Party “Otan”
Leader: Amangeldy ERMERGIYAYAV, Zharmakhan TUYAKBAI and Aleksandr PAVLOV
Seats won in this election: 42
Seats won in last election: 23
Party: Republican Party “Asar”
Leader: Dariga NAZARBAYEVA
Seats won in this election: 4
Seats won in last election: 0
Party: Bloc: “Agrarian- Industrial Union of workers” (AIST) (Civic and Agrarian parties)
Leader: Azat PERYASHEV, Romin MADINOV
Seats won in this election: 11
Seats won in last election: 16 (Civic- 13, Agrarian- 3)
Party: Democratic Party of Kazakhstan “Ak Zhol”
Leader: Alikhan BAIMENOV
Seats won in this election: 1
Seats won in last election: 0
Party: Democratic Party of Kazakhstan
Leader: Maksut NARIKBAYEV
Seats won in this election: 1
Seats won in last election: 0

Note: The remaining 18 seats were secured by independents.

When was the last election?

Population and number of eligible voters:

Is there anything unique about this upcoming election that would be of interest to an international audience?

The major concern amongst opposition groups was ensuring that the elections were free and fair. Many groups have cited concerns about the disproportionate media coverage for the ruling Otan and Asar parties during the election campaign.
Electronic voting were be used for the first time on a pilot basis for about 15% of voters. The �Sailau� system was developed based on technology developed in Belarus.
Kazahkstan held a second round of elections on October 3 due to inconsistencies within 22 of the country's 40 constituencies.

SOURCE: INTERNATIONAL FOUNDATION FOR ELECTION SYSTEMS (IFES)

FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: IFES ELECTIONGUIDE ONLINE