2015 Electoral Reform Controversy

The 2015 Electoral Reform Controversy was the dispute over the exclusion of opposition candidates from the November 2015 gubernatorial election in the Irad Special Economic Zone, the first held after the 2013 Constitutional Amendment removed term limits. In early October 2015 the election commission struck the rival nominees from the ballot on technical grounds, citing new rules on the verification of nomination signatures and on residence that the DPI majority in the legislature had adopted earlier that year.^[1] Those excluded included an independent backed by trade unions in Nurzhan and a Russo-aligned businessman.

Erlan Toktarov won with an official 78.25% of the vote, his lowest share. Opposition groups held protests in Talas and Nurzhan, and observers from the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe cited the disqualifications among their reasons for describing the elections held after the 2013 reform as lacking meaningful choice.^[2] The DPI said the rules applied equally to all candidates (see Elections in Irad).

References

1. ^ Talas Herald (2015). 'Election Commission Strikes Rival Candidates from Gubernatorial Ballot.' 2 October.
2. ^ OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (2023). Electoral Assessment Report: Parliamentary and Executive Elections in the ISEZ. Warsaw.