NUR-SULTAN, January 10. /TASS/. Three out of five political parties that were taking part in Sunday’s parliamentary elections in Kazakhstan are likely to win seats in the lower house, with the ruling Nur Otan (The light of the Fatherland) party winning 71.97% of the vote, as follows from the results of the exit poll conducted by the Public Opinion research institute.
The exit poll results were made public after midnight (21:00 Moscow time). The three parties that can win seats in the parliament are Nur Otan, the Ak Zhol (Path of Light) Democratic Party, which is winning 10.18% of votes, and the People’s Democratic Party of Kazakhstan (9.03%). These parties are present in the current parliament.
Two more parties, the Auyl (Village) People’s Democratic Patriotic Party, and the Adal (Honesty) party are failing to score more than seven percent of votes needed to secure presence in the legislature.
Exit polls were conducted at 600 polling stations in all of the country’s regions involving 24,000 voters. The margin of error is two percent.
Elections to the lower house of Kazakhstan’s parliament were held on Monday. Five out of Kazakhstan’s six registered parties are vying for seats in the parliament. They are the People’s Party of Kazakhstan, the ruling Nur Otan (The Light of the Fatherland) party, the Auyl (Village) People’s Democratic Patriotic Party, the Ak Zhol (Light Path) Democtratic Party, and the Adal (Honesty) party. Concurrently, Kazakhstan is holding elections to local representative bodies.
Parliamentary elections are recognized valid regardless of the voter turnout. A party needs to score more than seven percent of votes to win seats in the parliament. However, at least two parties should be present in the parliament. If only one party manages to win seven or more percent of votes, a political force taking the second place during the voting will be allowed to have seats in the legislature.
Preliminary results of the elections will be made public on January 11.