Referendum In Kazakhstan: CEC Releases Preliminary Turnout Data

Voting in Kazakhstan’s national referendum on the draft of the new Constitution ended at 20:00 on March 15. All polling stations across the country have closed, and precinct commissions have begun counting the ballots, Orda.kz reports.

According to Kazakhstan’s Central Referendum Commission, turnout as of 20:00 stood at 73.24%. In total, 9,126,850 people on the voter lists received ballots.

Regional commissions reported the following turnout figures:

• Abay Region — 75.45%;
• Akmola Region — 79.82%;
• Aktobe Region — 87.05%;
• Almaty Region — 71.46%;
• Atyrau Region — 74.04%;
• West Kazakhstan Region — 68.94%;
• Zhambyl Region — 85.06%;
• Zhetisu Region — 78.49%;
• Karaganda Region — 84.30%;
• Kostanay Region — 81.21%;
• Kyzylorda Region — 93.04%;
• Mangistau Region — 77.89%;
• Pavlodar Region — 75.51%;
• North Kazakhstan Region — 70.52%;
• Turkestan Region — 84.03%;
• Ulytau Region — 73.15%;
• East Kazakhstan Region — 86.42%;
• Astana — 60.36%;
• Almaty — 33.43%;
•  Shymkent — 75.82%.

Voting abroad is still continuing because of the time difference. Some overseas polling stations will remain open until midnight Astana time.

As Deputy Foreign Minister Arman Isetov reported earlier, the last overseas polling station will close at 08:00 Astana time on March 16 at the Consulate General of Kazakhstan in San Francisco.

The commission clarified that the vote count must not take more than 12 hours from the start of the procedure. The preliminary referendum results will be announced separately.

Original author: Rustam Muratov