At the meeting of the Central Election Commission on September 20 this year, the issues related to the registration of candidates nominated by political parties for members of the Legislative Chamber and the election campaign of political parties and candidates contesting the elections were discussed.

As is well known, the elections of deputies to the Legislative Chamber shall be held on the basis of a mixed electoral system, i.e. plurality voting system (majoritarian) and proportional representation.

This year, seventy-five of the one hundred and fifty deputies shall be elected to the lower chamber of Parliament from single-mandate districts based on the votes cast by voters for specific candidates. The remaining seventy-five shall be elected on the basis of the lists of candidates (i.e. party tickets) drawn up by the political parties in proportion to the number of votes cast for the political parties in a single election district.

The meeting decided to register the candidates nominated by the Movement of Entrepreneurs and Businesspeople - Liberal Democratic Party of Uzbekistan, the “Milliy Tiklanish” (“National Revival”) Democratic Party of Uzbekistan, the Ecological Party of Uzbekistan, the People's Democratic Party of Uzbekistan and the “Adolat” (“Justice”) Social Democratic Party of Uzbekistan in single-mandate election districts.

Accordingly, 375 candidates were registered for members of the Legislative Chamber, nominated by five political parties in single-mandate election district.

In addition, the Central Election Commission has passed the relevant resolutions on the registration of 500 candidates on party ticket nominated by these political parties in a single election district for members of the Legislative Chamber.

As noted at the meeting, for the first time in the history of national elections, five political parties have nominated 100 percent of the candidates for seats in parliament at all levels.

In particular, the political parties were able to nominate candidates in all election districts, i.e. 875 for the Legislative Chamber, 3,625 for the Jokargy Kenes of the Republic of Karakalpakstan, the Councils (Kengashes) of People's Deputies of the regions and the city of Tashkent and 24,850 for the Councils (Kengashes) of People's deputies of the districts and cities.

The introduction of the interactive portal “E-saylov” is also significant in this context.

This system enabled political parties to cooperate immediately with the election commissions on the eligibility of candidates.

As was noted at the meeting, the number of women among the candidates nominated by the political parties for the Legislative Chamber amounted to 391, or 44.7 percent of the total number of candidates. This is the highest number in the country's electoral history.

Compared to previous elections, the candidates have become significantly younger. The average age of candidates for the Legislative Chamber is 47.2 years. Of these, 44.2 percent are under 45 years old, while a further 44.3 percent are 45-60 years old. And the youngest candidate is 25 years old. 99.3 percent of candidates have a higher education.

Among the candidates, economists make up 20.2 percent, teachers - 27.9 percent, engineers - 7.9 percent, doctors - 9.1 percent, lawyers - 16.5 percent, entrepreneurs, farmers and representatives of other sectors - 18.4 percent.

At the same time, the electoral commissions of the territories, districts and cities also registered the candidates for the local Councils (Kengashes).

Each party has registered candidates for the Jokargy Kenes of the Republic of Karakalpakstan, the Councils (Kengashes) of People's Deputies of the regions, the city of Tashkent and the districts (cities). 28,475 candidates will compete for a parliamentary mandate.

Of these candidates, 42.5 percent are women.

The average age of candidates for the Jokargy Kenes of the Republic of Karakalpakstan, the Councils (Kengashes) of People's Deputies of the regions, the city of Tashkent and the districts (cities) is 44.4 years, of which 54.9 percent are under 45 years old and 36.4 percent are 45-60 years old.

The age of the youngest candidates for the regional Councils (Kengashes) is 24 years, for the district Councils (Kengashes) 21 years.

90.3 percent of the candidates have a university degree.

Among the candidates, 36 percent are educators, 15.8 percent economists, 9.6 percent engineers, 9.4 percent doctors, 3.3 percent lawyers, 25.9 percent entrepreneurs, farmers and other professions.

The candidates also include representatives of other nationalities and ethnic groups living in our country. For example, 973 candidates for the Legislative Chamber and local Kengashes (Kengashes) are Tajiks, 588 Kazakhs, 146 Turkmens, 141 Kyrgyz, 67 Russians and representatives of other nationalities.

It should be noted that the political parties paid particular attention to inclusivity when nominating candidates. For example, 11 people with disabilities are represented among the candidates for the Legislative Chamber and 605 for the local Councils (Kengashes). This is the first time that this high level of inclusion has been observed.

The 29,350 candidates registered for the elections at all levels via the interactive portal “E-saylov” receive notifications on their cell phones that they are registered as candidates for deputies of the respective representative bodies and can register their proxies via this system, as well as receive notifications about the deadlines and the start of the election campaign.

The meeting also dealt with the issue of election campaigning of political parties and candidates for members of the Legislative Chamber and local Councils (Kengashes).

The Resolution stipulates that the election campaign of candidates for deputies and political parties for the elections to the Legislative Chamber and local Councils (Kengashes) will begin on September 22, 2024.

It also stipulates that the speeches of political parties and candidates for deputies during the election campaign will be published in the media in the order of the political parties' admission to participate in the elections. So:

First, the Movement of Entrepreneurs and Businesspeople – Liberal democratic party of Uzbekistan;

Second, the “Milliy Tiklanish” (“National Revival”) Democratic Party of Uzbekistan;

Third, the Ecological Party of Uzbekistan;

Fourth, the People's Democratic Party of Uzbekistan;

Fifth, the “Adolat” (“Justice”) Social Democratic Party

According to the Resolution of the Central Election Commission, candidates and political parties shall be given free airtime and print space on central and regional television and radio channels and in the country's newspapers during the election campaign.

In particular, the national television channels “O'zbekiston-24”, “O'zbekiston”, “Yoshlar”, “Mahalla”, “Madaniyat va ma'rifat” and radio channels “O'zbekiston-24”, “O'zbekiston”, “Yoshlar”, “Mahalla” will provide free airtime for the election campaign activities of the political parties.

At the same time, it was emphasized at the meeting that in accordance with the Regulation on the Election Campaign approved by the Resolution of the Central Election Commission of July 2, 2024, the issue of preparation and distribution of election campaign materials using artificial intelligence technologies has been streamlined.

As noted at the meeting, political parties and parliamentary candidates shall:

- display information about the use of artificial intelligence technologies in campaign materials created using artificial intelligence;

- not infringe a person's rights to their image and voice or other personal, non-property rights;

- when using a person's image and voice, as well as information about another person, comply with the rules for obtaining that person's prior consent.

The Press Service and the Press Center of the Central Election Commission will monitor the election campaign together with the relevant organizations. 

Central Election Commission Press Service