The number of young voters in Turkmenistan who have turned 18 and who will vote for the first time in the upcoming parliamentary elections is 75,606, the Central Commission for Elections and Referendums in Turkmenistan reports.
According to the CEC report on preparations for the elections of deputies of the Mejlis of Turkmenistan, members of the province, district, city people’s councils, village councils, to be held on 26 March 2023, 3,496,475 voters were registered in the country as of 12 March 2023.
The number of voters over the age of seventy is 75,500. Voters who cannot come to the polling station due to disability will cast their votes at home.
13078 voters will vote in foreign countries.
7222 electoral districts were formed in the country, including:
- 125 electoral districts for the election of deputies of the parliament of Turkmenistan, for the election of members of the people’s councils in provinces, and Ashgabat city
- 240 electoral districts – for the election of members of district people’s councils
- 960 electoral districts – in 49 districts and cities with the rights of district
- 5897 electoral districts – for the election of members of the village councils in 572 gengeshi
To date, a total of 2,644 polling stations have been established, including:
- 365 – in Akhal province
- 272 – in Balkan province
- 536 – in Dashoguz province
- 567 – in Lebap province,
- 550 – in Mary province
- 312 – in Ashgabat.
Also, 42 polling stations have been set up at diplomatic missions and consulates of Turkmenistan abroad.
More than 23,000 members of election commissions manage organizational work for the conduct of elections. The term of office of all election commissions is 5 years.
12 manuals and memos were published by the Central Election Commission in Russian and Turkmen, some of them were published in three languages – Turkmen, Russian, and English. The guidelines are intended for election commissions of various levels, representatives of the media, international and national observers, as well as for interested citizens.
The Turkmen communication agency provides support for equipping 240 polling stations with video cameras. The voting will be broadcast live on the website of the Central Election Commission on 26 March from 7am to 7pm local time.
To date, 2,855 national observers have been appointed from political parties and public associations. Among them are 594 national observers from the Democratic Party, 307 – from the Party of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs, 408 – from the Agrarian Party, 600 – from Trade Unions, 302 – from a Women’s organization, 570 – from a Youth organization, 21 – from civil groups and 53 – from candidates.
Representatives of international organizations such as the UN, the Commonwealth of Independent States, the Organization of Turkic States, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, the Bureau for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe will monitor the course of the elections. Foreign media representatives will also arrive in Turkmenistan.
The long-term working group of the Commonwealth of Independent States and the expert group of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights began monitoring the preparations for the elections in the first half of March.
258 candidates have been registered for deputies of the Mejlis of Turkmenistan, including:
- from the Democratic Party of Turkmenistan – 97,
- from the Party of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs of Turkmenistan – 27,
- from the Agrarian Party of Turkmenistan – 51,
- from groups of citizens – 83 candidates
515 candidates were nominated as members of the province people’s councils, 2001 canidates were nominated as members of the district and city people’s councils, and 12098 candidates were nominated as members of village councils.
Th total number of candidates nominated for all elections is 14,872. So, two and three candidates will compete for one seat.
Early voting started on 16 March. ///nCa, 19 March 2023