BISHKEK: Elections to local councils and a constitutional referendum on the draft of a new Constitution has been ended in Kyrgyzstan, at 20:00 local time.
A total of 2,435 polling stations were opened for voting throughout the country.
The elections were held in 448 towns and villages, including Bishkek and Osh cities.
According to preliminary data from the Central Election Commission of Kyrgyzstan, 1 million 24 thousand 891 people or 30.89% voted in the elections to local councils. Thus, the turnout in elections to city councils was 28.89%, to village councils – 31.81%.
The referendum at 18:00 was attended by 1 million 61 thousand 591 voters or 29.89%.
According to the Kyrgyz Foreign Ministry’s press service, voting in a referendum on the new draft constitution of Kyrgyzstan also took place in Germany.
The voting in constitutional referendum began on Sunday at 8:00 a.m. CET in all three polling stations in Germany (the Kyrgyz Embassy in Berlin, the Consular Agency in Frankfurt am Main and the Embassy Office in Bonn).
A total of 3,334 eligible voters are registered in Germany. The referendum is held with the permission of the German authorities, subject to restrictive measures and sanitary and epidemiological requirements.
At the moment, both the local council elections and the constitutional referendum are being held in accordance with the principles of international law, Elena Babchenkova, representative of Russia’s international observers’ mission, election expert and Co-Chairperson of the Russia’s Choice public movement said during a press conference.
She noted the mission had been observing the electoral process since morning.
“I would like to note the openness and transparency of the electoral process. There is a large number of party observers at all polling stations visited and attended by our representatives,” Babchenkova said adding that the electoral rights of citizens are respected. –PNP
