2019 Kazakh presidential election

2019 Kazakh presidential election

← 2015 9 June 2019 2022 →
Turnout	77.54% (17.67pp)
Nominee Kassym-Jomart Tokayev Amirjan Qosanov Dania Espaeva Party Nur Otan Ult Tagdyry Aq Jol Popular vote 6,539,715 1,495,401 465,714 Percentage 70.96% 16.23% 5.05%
Results by region
President before election Kassym-Jomart Tokayev (acting) Nur Otan Elected President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev Nur Otan

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
Other countries
v t e

Snap presidential elections were held in Kazakhstan on 9 June 2019 to elect the President of Kazakhstan following the resignation of long-term President Nursultan Nazarbayev in March 2019.^[1] This was the sixth presidential election held since Kazakhstan's independence. The elections were not free and fair, and were widely denounced as a sham. Acting president Kassym-Jomart Tokayev of Nur Otan won the election.

Originally scheduled for December 2020, when President Nursultan Nazarbayev's fifth term was set to expire, the snap elections were announced on 9 April 2019, shortly after acting president Kassym-Jomart Tokayev assumed office following Nazarbayev's resignation amidst anti-government protests.

Nominations took place following the announcement of elections. Nine candidates expressed their interest, of which seven registered, making it the election with the largest number of presidential candidates in Kazakhstan's history. The nominees from political parties and public associations were acting president Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, who became a candidate for the ruling Nur Otan after endorsement from his predecessor Nazarbayev, Amirjan Qosanov from the Ult Tagdyry movement, Jambyl Ahmetbekov from the Communist People's Party, Toleutai Raqymbekov from the Auyl People's Democratic Patriotic Party, Amangeldi Taspihov from the Federation of Trade Unions, Sadibek Tügel from the Uly Dala Qyrandary and Dania Espaeva from Aq Jol, the first Kazakh woman to officially participate in elections.

Campaigning was focused on the issues of agriculture, environment, labour rights, social benefits, the market economy, the legacy of Nazarbayev's policies and the current political system, in which presidential candidates proposed solutions from further democratization and decommunization to the development of the nation's values and agricultural industry.

Tokayev's victory was marked as the first peaceful transition of power in Kazakhstan's history,^[2] despite challenges resulting from the political unrest that took place in the streets of Almaty and Nur-Sultan. According to the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), "significant irregularities were observed on election day, including cases of ballot box stuffing, and a disregard of counting procedures meant that an honest count could not be guaranteed." "There were widespread detentions of peaceful protesters on election day in major cities", said the OSCE in their Statement of Preliminary Findings and Conclusions.^[3]

On 12 June 2019, Tokayev was sworn as president during a ceremony at the Palace of Independence in the capital, Nur-Sultan.^[4] From there, he pledged to protect the interests of every citizen and consider any proposals and initiatives that would be put forward by political and community leaders.^[5]