Foreign observers will have access to Zhanaozen for elections

Observers from foreign countries and international organizations will be allowed to enter Zhanaozen and monitor elections without any restrictions, Tengrinews.kz reports. “As for o thebservers of the elections campaigns, all the observers and experts, including observers from foreign countries and organizations, will be provided with access to this region, as well as with access to information on the course of elections, the work of election authorities, activities of all the participants of the process,” head of the Central Election Commission said. He assured that Zhanaozen election commission is operating as usual and has all the required methodic materials and documents in place. Kuandyk Turgankulov noted that campaign materials will be available of Zhanaozen residents via state and local TV channels and radio stations, as well as in printed media. “Eurasia, El Arna, Kazakhstan, Khabar, Aktau-Kazakhstan, Kazakh radio and cable TV are operating in Zhanaozen,” head of CEC said. According to Turgankulov, printing of campaign materials is impossible in Zhanaozen, as the local printing house has been burnt down, but the candidates can use the services of the oblast printing house. 61 observers have been accredited in Kazakhstan so far. 46 of them are representatives of the ODIHR/OSCE mission, 11 observers are from CIS mission and 4 observers are appointed by foreign countries. The Central Election Commission has decided on the number of ballots. 9,4 million of them will be printed for the parliamentary elections and 17.4 million ballots will be printed for the Maslikhat (local executive body) elections. The total number of ballots also includes a reserve: one percent of the total number of voters.