Early Parliamentary Elections, 19 March 2023

Following an invitation to observe the early parliamentary elections in Kazakhstan scheduled for 19 March 2023, and in accordance with its mandate, ODIHR is preparing to deploy an Election Observation Mission (EOM) for these elections.

Long-term Observation

The mission is led by Eoghan Murphy and consists of a core team of 11 experts based in Astana. In addition, 32 long-term observers will be deployed throughout the country from 17 February.

The mission will assess whether the elections are held in line with OSCE commitments and other international obligations and standards for democratic elections, as well as with national legislation.

Observers will closely follow fundamental components of the elections such as:

• election-related legislation and its implementation
• respect for fundamental freedoms
• the work of election administration
• voter registration
• candidate registration
• campaign activities and financing
• media environment and media coverage of the election
• the resolution of election-related disputes

The observers will also assess how prior ODIHR election related recommendations have been considered. The ODIHR EOM will also conduct qualitative and quantitative monitoring of media coverage of the election campaign and a limited qualitative and quantitative observation of election campaigns on social networks.

Election Day

ODIHR will request the secondment of 300 short-term observers from OSCE participating States to follow the election day proceedings. The short-term observers will be deployed throughout the country in multinational teams of two which will observe:

• the opening of polling stations
• the voting
• the counting of ballots
• the tabulation of results at all levels.

Co-operation with other partners

The OSCE Parliamentary Assembly intends to deploy observer delegation for these elections.

The day after the elections, ODIHR will issue a statement of preliminary findings and conclusions at a press conference. A final report on the observation of the entire electoral process will be issued some months after the end of the election process.

Previous Elections

ODIHR has previously observed 13 elections in Kazakhstan, most recently the 2022 early presidential election and the 2022 national referendum.