The national referendum on a draft of a new Constitution of Kazakhstan has begun. Polling stations opened at 7:00 a.m. Astana time and will remain open until 8:00 p.m. Ninety-two polling stations in the country opened earlier than the rest, at 6:00 a.m.
The ballots contain one question: “Do you accept the new Constitution of the Republic of Kazakhstan, the draft of which was published in the media on February 12, 2026?“
Kazakhstanis will have two answer options: “Yes, I accept“ and “No, I do not accept“.
The ballot must be filled out in person in a secret voting booth.
The text of the draft Constitution in Kazakh and Russian, as well as an audio version, will be available at all polling stations.
359 international observers from 10 organizations and 27 central election commissions of foreign countries will participate in observing the referendum. 185 foreign journalists from 31 countries will cover the process.
A total of 12,461,796 citizens will be able to vote in the republic.
A total of 10,402 polling stations will be opened for the referendum. Of these, 9,779 will be located at the places of registration of citizens, and 634 will be located at the places of temporary residence.
Another 14,230 citizens of Kazakhstan will be able to vote abroad. They will be able to vote at 71 polling stations in Kazakhstan's foreign missions in 54 countries.
The first referendum polling station to open was in Tokyo, Japan, and the last one to close was in San Francisco, USA.
According to the Law "On the Republican Referendum", a vote will be considered valid if more than half of those entitled to vote participate. In this case, voter turnout must exceed 6.2 million people.
The vote count will begin at 8:00 p.m., after the closing of the polling stations.
According to the law, the new Constitution will be considered adopted if it is supported by more than half of the citizens who participated in the vote, and such a majority is registered in at least two-thirds of the districts, cities of republican significance and the capital.
The Central Referendum Commission must summarize the final results of the vote no later than seven days from the date of the vote, i.e. March 21, 2026. The results of the referendum will be published in the media.
We recall that on February 11, Head of State Kassym-Jomart Tokayev signed a decree scheduling a republican referendum on March 15, 2026.
The starting point for the constitutional reform was the initiative of Head of State Kassym-Jomart Tokayev to create a unicameral parliament in Kazakhstan. The President expressed this idea on September 8, 2025 during his annual State of the Nation Address.