2021 Kazakh local elections

2021 Kazakh local legislative elections

← 2016 10 January 2021 2023 →
All 3,246 seats to 214 mäslihats (local assemblies)
Turnout	57.26%
Leader Nursultan Nazarbayev Äli Bektaev Azat Peruashev Party Nur Otan Auyl Ak Zhol Leader since 1 March 1999 26 August 2015 2 July 2011 Mäslihats 214 0 0 Members 399 R, 2,286 M 44 R, 183 M 39 R, 185 M Popular vote* 10,951,426 1,002,799 1,002,184 Percentage 80.23% 7.35% 7.34%   Adal Leader Aiqyn Qongyrov Serik Sultangali Party People's Party Adal Leader since 11 November 2020 26 April 2013 Mäslihats 0 0 Members 7 R, 79 M 0 R, 24 M Popular vote* 406,624 286,531 Percentage 2.98% 2.10%

Politics of Kazakhstan
CIS member state
Constitution Human rights President (list) Kassym-Jomart Tokayev Prime Minister Oljas Bektenov Security Council Chairman Kassym-Jomart Tokayev Parliament Senate Chairman Mäulen Äşimbaev Mäjilis Chairman Erlan Qoşanov Political parties Recent elections Presidential 2015 2019 2022 Parliamentary 2016 2021 2023 Administrative divisions Regions (oblıstar) Districts (audandar) Foreign relations Visa policy
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Local elections were held in Kazakhstan on 10 January 2021 to elect in total of all 3,246 members of the 214 mäslihats (local assemblies) which included 489 regional members and 2,757 municipal members. This is the first election to take place under party-list proportional representation system that was enacted in 2018, giving political parties a role in local races and it coincided with the 2021 legislative elections.

The ruling

Throughout the history of Kazakhstan, local deputies were elected from single-member districts.

In 2018, the Parliament of Kazakhstan approved a bill that would allow all the members be chosen through party-list proportional representation. According to the Ministry of Justice, "the proportional system will ensure full representation of all political parties, will allow the development of party building, increase the role of parties in the political life of the country and take into account the interests of the people."^[1] However, this move was met with skepticism as it would bar self-nominated candidates from running in the races or even being MP of the mäslihat which some accused was a violation of the Constitution.^[2]

Campaign

On 10 December 2020, the