At stake in this election:

• The office of President of Kazakhstan

Description of government structure:

• Chief of State: President Nursultan Abishevich NAZARBAYEV
• Head of Government: President Nursultan Abishevich NAZARBAYEV
• Assembly: Kazakhstan has a bicameral Parliament consisting of the Senate with 39 seats and the lower house (Majilis) with 77 seats.

Description of electoral system:

• The President is elected by simple majority vote to serve a 7-year term.
• In the Senate, 7 members are appointed by the president to serve 6-year terms and 32 members are elected by indirect vote to serve 6-year terms. In the lower house (Majilis) 67 members are elected by popular vote to serve 5-year terms.**

** 67 members are elected by popular vote and 10 are chosen from the winning party's lists, all to serve 5-year terms.

Main Candidates in the Presidential race:

• Nursultan Nazarbayev
  • Party: Party of People's Unity of Kazakhstan
• Serikbolsyn Abdildin
  • Party: Communist Party of Kazakhstan
• Gany Kasymov
  • Party: Independent
• Engels Gabbasov
  • Party: Party of People's Unity of Kazakhstan
• Against all candidates
  • Party: N/A

Last Presidential election:

• The last presidential election was held on December 1, 1991. In the election, Nursultan NAZARBAYEV stood unopposed and was elected president. And in an April 1995 referendum, the citizens of Kazakhstan voted to extend President NAZARBAYEV's term of office to the year 2000.

Population and number of registered voters:

• Population: 14,928,426 (1999)
• Registered Voters: 8,419,283 (1999)

Gender Data:

·         Female Population: 7,763,375 (1999)

·         Is Kazakhstan a signatory to CEDAW: N/A

·         Has Kazakhstan ratified CEDAW: Yes, accession (26 August 1998)

·         Gender Quota: No

·         Female candidates in this election: No

·         Number of Female Parliamentarians: 8 (Assembly) (following the 1999 elections)

·         Human Development Index Position: 56 (2014)

·         Social Institutions and Gender Index (SIGI) Categorization: Low (2014)

Disability Data:

·         Is Kazakhstan a signatory to CRPD: Yes (11 December 2008)

·         Has Kazakhstan ratified CRPD: Yes (21 April 2015)

·         Population with a disability: 2,239,263 (est.)