Kazakhstan Citizens Head to Polls to Elect New President

Following Nursultan Nazarbayev's resignation in late March, his appointee Kassym-Jomart Tokayev set snap presidential elections for 9 June. A record seven hopefuls will run for the highest post in the Central Asian country.

According to Kazakhstan's Central Election Commission (CEC), voters will cast ballots for Toleutai Rakhimbekov from the political party Auyl; Zhambyl Akhmetbekov, from the Communist People's Party of Kazakhstan; Sadybek Tughel, from the "the Eagles of the Great Steppe"; Amangeldy Taspikhov, from the ruling party Nur Otan; and political activist Amirjan Kosanov.

The presidential hopefuls needed to provide signatures of at least 1 percent of the country's voters in order to be registered. With 11.8 million eligible voters in Kazakhstan as of 1 January 2019, a candidate needed a minimum of 118,100 signatures according to local legislation,

Notably, the Central Election Commission also registered the first-ever female presidential candidate in the country’s history. Daniya Espaeva aged 58 and a member of the lower chamber of the Kazakh parliament from the Ak Zhol Democratic Party, will run for president on 9 June.

READ MORE: Kazakhstan's New President Pledges to Continue Nazarbayev's Policies