ASTANA, March 19. /TASS/. All polling stations located on the territory of Kazakhstan opened by 08:00 (05:00 Moscow time) for the elections of deputies of the Mazhilis (lower house) of the parliament of the republic, as well as maslikhats (local representative bodies), taking place on Sunday. This was announced at a briefing by Secretary of the Central Election Commission Mukhtar Yerman.
“As of 08:00 o’clock in the capital, according to the operational data provided by the regional commissions of the cities of Almaty, Shymkent and Astana, all 10,146 polling stations across the country and 18 polling stations at the representative offices of the Republic of Kazakhstan in foreign states started voting,” he said.
According to him, 59 polling stations abroad will start working, taking into account the difference in time zones. The Central Election Commission from 10:00 (07:00 Moscow time) every two hours will inform about the turnout of voters. Voting will last until 20:00 local time (17:00 Moscow time). There is no turnout threshold.
All seven parties registered in the country take part in the parliamentary elections. Early elections to the lower house of parliament are organized according to a mixed electoral system: 70% of deputies are elected on party lists, 30% – in single-mandate constituencies.
