The construction of a nuclear power plant (NPP) in Kazakhstan was supported by 71.12% of citizens in a referendum held on October 6, according to preliminary data of the Central Referendum Commission.
“The number of citizens who participated in the voting was 7,820,204 people, or 63.66% of those entitled to participate in the referendum,”, the commission said in a statement. 5,561,937 people or 71.12% voted for a positive decision on the question put to the referendum.
The total number of citizens with the right to participate in the referendum amounts to 12,284,487 people.
"The number of citizens who voted against the referendum question on the construction of a nuclear power plant in Kazakhstan was 2,045,271 of those who participated in the vote. The number of ballots in which both answer options were selected, i.e. recognized as valid, but not taken into account in the counting of votes, amounted to 82,729 ballots, declared invalid, was 130,267“, said the chairman of the Central Referendum Commission. Nurlan Abdirov.
"The monitoring mission from the CIS believes that the referendum was held at a high organizational level, in a free and open atmosphere, in accordance with the constitutional law of the Republic of Kazakhstan on the republican referendum“ , said the head of the observation mission from the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), First Deputy Secretary General of the CIS Leonid Anfimov at a briefing.
Members of the mission spoke with national observers at the polling stations. “During the time we communicated with the national observers, I heard no complaints from anyone, and neither did my colleagues. Everyone was unanimous that the referendum was held in compliance with the norms of the current legislation. In total, over 40 thousand national and 177 international observers monitored compliance with the legislation, he said and added that conditions for international missions had been created in the country. Anfimov also highlighted the good organization of voting for disabled people.
On October 6, Kazakhstan held a referendum on the possibility of building a nuclear power plant. In total, over 10,000 polling stations were opened on the voting day, 59 of which were abroad. The referendum was recognized as valid, as more than 50% of citizens with the right to vote took part in it. For a decision to be made on a question put to a referendum, it must be supported by more than half of the citizens who voted.