The Constitution of the Republic of Kazakhstan of 1995 defined free elections as the fundamental principle of the organization of State power, and the people are the bearer of sovereignty and the only source of State power. The Republic of Kazakhstan is a unitary state with a presidential form of government.

Democratic elections are competitive, periodic and representative elections in which citizens with broad freedom elect their representatives to government structures on an alternative basis. Competitive elections ensure that different political parties and candidates participate in the elections. All of them enjoy freedom of speech, assembly, movement, everything necessary to ensure that their political views are heard and that they can present alternative candidates to voters. The legislation of the Republic of Kazakhstan ensures the frequency of elections, representation in government of various social groups of the population, openness and transparency of the activities of electoral bodies.

Article 33 of the Constitution of the Republic of Kazakhstan guarantees the right to elect and be elected to state and local self-government bodies, as well as to participate in a republican referendum to citizens of the Republic who have reached the age of 18, regardless of their origin, social, official and property status, gender, race, nationality, language, attitude to religion, beliefs, place of residence or any other circumstances. Citizens who have been declared legally incompetent by a court or are held in places of deprivation of liberty by a court verdict do not have the right to elect and be elected, to participate in a republican referendum.

Being an active member of many reputable international organizations, Kazakhstan adheres to all its obligations to conduct free and competitive elections. Elections of the Head of State, deputies of Parliament and maslikhats of the Republic of Kazakhstan, as well as mayors of districts, cities of regional significance, cities of district significance, villages, towns, rural districts are held in our country in an open and transparent manner, in accordance with national legislation and generally recognized principles of democratic elections laid down in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948), in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (1966), a document of the OSCE Copenhagen Meeting (1990).

The right to vote and be elected is regulated in the Constitutional Law "On Elections in the Republic of Kazakhstan", adopted in September 1995.

According to the provisions of the Constitution and this law, elections of the President, deputies of the Mazhilis of Parliament, maslikhats, as well as mayors of districts, cities of regional significance, cities of district significance, villages, towns, rural districts of the Republic of Kazakhstan are held on the basis of universal, equal and direct suffrage by secret ballot.

The President of the Republic of Kazakhstan is elected for a term of seven years. A citizen of the Republic by birth, at least forty years old, fluent in the state language, who has lived in Kazakhstan for the last fifteen years and has higher education and work experience in public service or in elected public positions for at least five years may be elected President of the Republic.

The Parliament of the Republic of Kazakhstan is the highest representative body of the country and consists of two Chambers: the Senate and the Mazhilis, acting on a permanent basis. A member of Parliament may be a person who is a citizen of the Republic of Kazakhstan and has been permanently residing in its territory for the last ten years.

The Senate is formed by fifty deputies. Forty deputies of the Senate are elected by two people from each region, city of republican significance and the capital of the Republic. Half of the elected deputies of the Senate are re-elected every three years. The election of deputies of the Senate is carried out on the basis of indirect suffrage by secret ballot. Ten deputies of the Senate are appointed by the President of the Republic, five of whom are appointed on the proposal of the Assembly of People of Kazakhstan.

A deputy of the Senate may be a person who has reached the age of thirty, has a higher education and work experience of at least five years, has been permanently residing in the territory of the relevant region, a city of republican significance or the capital of the Republic for at least three years.

The term of office of the deputies of the Senate is six years.

The Mazhilis consists of ninety-eight deputies elected by a mixed electoral system. Sixty-nine deputies are elected from political parties on party lists in a single national electoral district. Twenty-nine are in single-mandate territorial electoral districts.

A person who has reached the age of twenty-five may be a deputy of the Mazhilis.

The term of office of the deputies of the Mazhilis is five years.

Maslikhats are elected by the population on the basis of universal, equal, direct suffrage by secret ballot for a period of five years.

Deputies of maslikhats of regions, cities of republican significance and the capital are elected according to a mixed electoral system: According to the proportional representation system, half of the deputies are elected in the territory of a single territorial electoral district, as well as the other half in single–mandate territorial electoral districts.

Deputies of maslikhats of districts and cities of regional significance are elected in single-mandate territorial electoral districts.

A citizen of the Republic of Kazakhstan who has reached the age of twenty may be elected a deputy of the Maslikhat.

Akims of districts, cities of regional significance, cities of district significance, villages, towns, rural districts of the Republic of Kazakhstan are elected to office for four years by the population of the corresponding administrative-territorial unit on the basis of universal, equal and direct suffrage by secret ballot from among citizens of the Republic of Kazakhstan aged at least twenty-five years, meeting the requirements of the Law of the Republic Kazakhstan "On Local Public administration and self-government in the Republic of Kazakhstan" and legislation in the field of public service.