Kazakhstan early presidential election 2019: ODIHR observation mission final report

Following Kazakhstan’s early presidential election on 9 June 2019, the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) has published its final report. While the election was an opportunity for potential political reforms, it was tarnished by violations of fundamental freedoms as well as pressure on critical voices. There were seven candidates, including a woman for the first time ever, but considerable restrictions on the right to stand and limits to peaceful assembly and expression inhibited genuine political pluralism. The election was efficiently organized. However, significant irregularities were observed on election day, including cases of ballot box stuffing, and a disregard of counting procedures meant that an honest count could not be guaranteed. There were widespread detentions of peaceful protesters on election day in major cities.

Key recommendations include:

• Lifting restrictions on legislation related to constitutionally guaranteed fundamental rights and freedoms
• Amending the election law to guarantee an inclusive and broad representation of political parties in election commissions at all levels
• Ensuring universal suffrage by revising the blanket withdrawal of voting rights of citizens serving prison sentences and abolishing the norms disenfranchising people with disabilities
• Removing the residency, language and professional experience requirements for candidate eligibility and ensuring that any restrictions on the right to stand for those with criminal convictions are proportionate to the severity of the offence
• Ensuring that election campaigning is conducted in an atmosphere free from intimidation and fear of retribution and amending the law on peaceful assemblies to require a simple notification procedure for holding a public gathering
• Repealing criminal provisions on defamation, insult and spreading of false information, in favour of civil sanctions designed to restore the reputation harmed, rather than compensate the plaintiff or punish the defendant
• Enhancing transparency and safeguarding the integrity of election results by publishing disaggregated polling station protocols on the website of the Central Election Commission.

ODIHR deployed an Election Observation Mission on 8 May 2019 to observe the early presidential election. All 57 participating States across the OSCE region have formally committed to following up promptly on ODIHR’s election assessments and recommendations.