IPA CIS Observers Monitored Kuryltai Elections in Kazakhstan and Abroad

On 23 August 2026, the IPA CIS international observers began monitoring the voting in the elections of members of the Kuryltai of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

Group Coordinator Deputy Chair of the Council of the Republic of the National Assembly of the Republic of Belarus Igor Brilevich attended the opening of one of the polling stations in Astana and witnessed that all necessary procedures had been carried out in full and that voting opened as scheduled at 7:00 a.m.

At one of the polling stations, the observers met with Chair of the Central Election Commission of the Republic of Kazakhstan Nurlan Abdirov, who emphasised the importance of objective international monitoring.

“We note a sufficiently high level of preparedness. So far, we have not recorded any remarks. The elections have been organised at a high level,” Igor Brilevich said in response to questions from journalists.

The IPA CIS observer group included representatives of the parliaments of Azerbaijan, Armenia, Belarus, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, as well as the International Institute for Monitoring the Democracy Development, Parliamentarianism and Suffrage Protection of Citizens of IPA CIS Member Nations (IPA CIS IIMDD). The monitoring involved representatives of the parliaments of the Commonwealth states: from Azerbaijan – Sabina Salmanova and Aydin Jafarov; from Armenia – Hayk Chilingaryan; from Kyrgyzstan – Ulan Sariev, Altynkul Murzakimova and Nurbek Satvaldiev; from Russia – Marina Sidukhina, Yulia Lazutkina, Kazbek Taysaev and Irina Sokolova; from Tajikistan – Munira Karimzoda, Abror Shahbozi and Abdukhalil Gafurzoda; and from Uzbekistan – Qutbiddin Burkhanov and Khushvakt Khayitov. Deputy Secretary General of the IPA CIS Council – Plenipotentiary Representative of National Assembly of Republic of Belarus Sergey Khomenko also took part in the work of the group. A total of 69 observers were accredited as members of the group.

On election day, members of the international observer group worked at polling stations in Astana, the city of Kosshi and the village of Taitobe. They monitored compliance with established procedures, communicated with members of election commissions, national observers and voters.

Representatives of the parliaments of the Commonwealth states noted the high level of organisation of the voting, the professional work of the election commissions and the participation of citizens of different age groups. The observers paid particular attention to youth participation, as well as the accessibility of polling stations for voters with limited mobility and visually impaired voters. No violations were recorded at the polling stations visited, and no complaints were received from national observers.

The observers described the atmosphere at the polling stations as calm and constructive. In their assessment, the monitoring group members were provided with the necessary assistance, while voters had the opportunity to freely exercise their right to vote.

For Kazakh citizens residing outside the country, 82 polling stations were opened in 64 countries. The IPA CIS international observers monitored voting at polling stations located at diplomatic missions and consular offices in Baku (Azerbaijan), Yerevan (Armenia), Bishkek (Kyrgyzstan), Astrakhan, Kazan, Moscow, Omsk and St Petersburg (Russia), Dushanbe (Tajikistan), Tashkent (Uzbekistan), Brussels (Belgium), Rome (Italy) and Singapore.