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Home Institutions and structures OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights Elections Kazakhstan Parliamentary Elections, 19 September and 3 October 2004
OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights

Parliamentary Elections, 19 September and 3 October 2004

An election commission member in Astana explains the use of the electronic voting equipment during parliamentary elections in Kazakhstan, 19 September 2004. (OSCE/Urdur Gunnarsdottir) Photo details

Type:

Election observation mission

Country:

Kazakhstan

Mission at a glance

  • Head of Mission: Amb. Lubomir Kopaj (Slovak Republic)
  • 5 core staff in Almaty
  • 6 long-term observers deployed to regional centres
  • 12 short-term observers
  • Core team and long-term observers drawn from 6 OSCE participating States

Mission schedule

  • 9 Aug.: Mission opens with arrival of the core team
  • 14 Aug.: Briefing of long-term observers
  • 15 Aug.: Deployment of long-term observers
  • 16-23 Aug.: Observation of electronic-voting pilot project
  • 14 Sep.: Arrival of short-term observers
  • 19 Sep.: Election day
  • 20 Sep.: Press conference
  • 3 Oct.: Second round of elections
  • 10 Oct.: End of mission

In response to an invitation from Kazakhstan's Central Election Commission, ODIHR observed the 19 September parliamentary elections. A second round of elections on 3 October was observed on a limited scale.

Headed by Ambassador Robert L. Barry of the United States, the mission was composed of a 15-member core team based in Astana and Almaty, as well as 16 long-term observers based in eight locations.

Ahead of election day, the mission was joined by some 305 short-term observers from 34 OSCE participating States, including delegations from the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly and the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe.

For the second round of elections on 3 October, the mission was headed by Ambassador Lubomir Kopaj of Slovakia and included five core staff and six long-term observers from six OSCE participating States. Election-day observation wasconducted by 24 observers.

According to the mission's final report: "The 19 September [parliamentary] elections were the first elections to be held since the 2003 elections to local government bodies and the 1999 Parliamentary elections. However, while these elections reflected improvement over past parliamentary elections, serious shortcomings remain, and the election process fell short of OSCE commitments and other international standards for democratic elections in many respects."