A total of 9,970 polling stations have begun their work in Kazakhstan, with 64 additional stations set to open abroad, including in Russia’s five cities - Moscow, St. Petersburg, Kazan, Astrakhan and Omsk.
Russian Ambassador to Kazakhstan Alexey Borodavkin told TASS that Russian observers, along with their colleagues from the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), the Common Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) and the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) would monitor the election process in order to ensure an objective result.
"Over 1,000 foreign observers have arrived to monitor the Kazakhstan election. Around 400 of them are Russian," he said. "Russian observers are already working in Kazakhstan within observer missions from the CIS, the CIS Interparliamentary Assembly, the CSTO Parliamentary Assembly, the Council of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Belarus-Russia Union State, the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights, as well as on the line of cooperation between regions and central election commissions of our countries."
For the first time ever, first president of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev has not presented his candidacy for the election. Seven candidates are on the ballot, including current president Kassym-Jomart Tokayev.