Kazakhstan Closes Polls in First Qurultay Election With 74% Turnout

Voting closed at 20:00 local time on August 23 in Kazakhstan's first election to the Qurultay, a new single-chamber parliament of 145 deputies chosen by proportional representation in one nationwide constituency. The Central Election Commission said 9,352,151 people received ballots, a preliminary turnout of 74.19 percent of 12,605,788 registered voters, and that precinct commissions had begun a count the law caps at 12 hours. Turnout ranged from 92.16 percent in Turkistan Region to 43.23 percent in Almaty city. Seven parties contested the vote under a 5 percent threshold, with 777 foreign observers accredited. President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev called the day historic; preliminary results are due at a later commission briefing.