The Central Election Commission (CEC) of Kazakhstan has released a statement encouraging Kazakh citizens to vote in the upcoming parliamentary elections scheduled for January 10 next year, the KazInform news agency reported.

 “If you are a citizen of Kazakhstan who has reached the age of 18 on the day of voting and has a right to vote, you have the right to elect deputies to the Majilis and maslikhats (local representative bodies) of Kazakhstan. The guarantee of the exercise of the constitutional right to participate in elections is your presence on the list of voters. The list of voters is compiled by local executive bodies,” said the CEC in a statement.

Citizens are added to a voters’ list based on their registration at the place of residence in a particular polling station.

“Every voter has the right to register as a voter with the relevant local executive body as soon as an election is declared. If you realize no later than Dec. 10, 2020, that you will not be able to arrive at the polling station on the election day, you have the right to apply in writing to the akimat (local executive body) that your place of residence to be included in the relevant voter list,” said the commission.

The previous elections were held in March of 2016. Six political parties participated in the elections and three of them included Nur Otan (82.2 percent), the Ak Zhol Democratic Party of Kazakhstan (7.18 percent), and the National Party, which is the former Communist People’s Party of Kazakhstan (7.14 percent), received more than 7 percent of the votes and won the right to send their deputies to the chamber.

A recent poll (in which 7,000 people were questioned) showed 77 percent of respondents plan to cast their ballot.

Starting December 26, citizens of Kazakhstan will be able to check the list of voters at their polling station.