Kazakhstan votes in first election for new unicameral parliament
ASTANA — Kazakhstan opened more than 10,400 polling stations on Sunday for the first elections to its new 145-seat unicameral legislature, the Kurultai, marking the country’s first nationwide vote under its new constitutional system.Polling stations across the country opened at 7 a.m. local time and are scheduled to close at 8 p.m., while some stations at military facilities, shift-worker settlements, continuous-production facilities and specialized institutions opened an hour earlier.Kazakh citizens abroad can cast their ballots at 79 polling stations established at diplomatic missions in 61 countries.Voting abroad has been suspended in Iran and Ukraine due to security concerns, while no polling station was established at Kazakhstan’s embassy in Ethiopia because there are no registered Kazakh voters there.The election follows the adoption of a new constitution this year that abolished Kazakhstan’s bicameral parliament and replaced it with the Kurultai, a single-chamber legislature comprising 145 deputies.The new parliament will be elected entirely through party lists, replacing the previous electoral system that combined party-list voting with single-mandate constituencies.Seven p
