Turkish Election Official Praises Organization of Kazakhstan's Constitutional Referendum

The Chairman of Turkey's Supreme Election Council, Ahmet Yener, visited a polling station in Astana on the day of Kazakhstan's nationwide constitutional referendum. During his visit, he commended the high voter turnout and the quality of the voting process.

Yener extended greetings to the people of Kazakhstan and congratulated them on the beginning of Nowruz. "First of all, I want to convey greetings to the people of Kazakhstan," he said. "In connection with Amal, which is considered the start of Nowruz, I want to convey warm greetings from the Turkish people as well. Today is an important day in Kazakhstan—a constitutional referendum is taking place."

He emphasized the high activity of citizens at the polling stations he visited and noted the excellent preparation of election staff. "This shows that Kazakhstan's Central Election Commission has qualitatively trained about 70 thousand precinct workers," Yener stated. "In this regard, I want to express gratitude to CEC Chairman Nurlan Abdirov and his colleagues."

Yener also highlighted that observers were working at polling stations, calling it an important sign of democracy. According to him, voting was proceeding openly and calmly.

"According to our information, voter participation at this moment is about 40 percent," he added. "This means that by the end of the day, this figure could exceed 70–75 percent."

The Turkish official drew comparisons between Kazakh and Turkish electoral systems, noting that approximately 70 percent of electoral practices are similar in both countries.

"For example, here there is a provision for people with disabilities to vote at home after a certain time," said Ahmet Yener. "Turkey has a similar practice—mobile ballot boxes are used. Furthermore, special templates for citizens with visual impairments are used in both countries."

He mentioned that some technical differences exist only in voter registration systems, attributing this to specific legislative features in each nation.

Yener expressed confidence that the results of the referendum would be beneficial for the people of Kazakhstan and for developing democratic processes within the country.

The nationwide vote on amendments to Kazakhstan's constitution took place on March 15th from 07:00 until 20:00 local time.