President of Kyrgyzstan Sadyr Japarov and his spouse cast their ballots in the early elections of deputies of the Zhogorku Kenesh.
According to the head of state, this vote is special because the entire process has been automated, eliminating the human factor.
«Previously, ballots were delivered by hand, and an extra 50–100 ballots were left at each polling station. Marks were made on behalf of candidates. Now this no longer happens — everything is computerized. The whole process took me about five minutes: I entered, received my ballot and voted. Why did we pursue these reforms? As everyone remembers, our country experienced three revolutions, all caused by elections — presidential or parliamentary,» Sadyr Japarov said.
He expressed hope that voter turnout in this campaign will be higher than usual thanks to remote voting, and urged citizens to take an active part in the elections.
Sadyr Japarov acknowledged that one problem still remains — vote-buying and vote-selling.
The parliamentary elections began today at 8 a.m. Bishkek time. A total of 4,294,243 citizens are on the voter list.
At least 2,492 polling stations are open in the republic, 100 stations are operating abroad.
Voting will last until 8 p.m. Preliminary results will be known almost immediately after its conclusion.
The election results will be tallied and officially announced by December 14.
