Speech by Mr. Zayniddin Nizamkhodjaev, Chairperson of the Central Election Commission of the Republic of Uzbekistan, at the press conference on the main measures for the preparation, organization and conduct of the elections of deputies to the Legislative Chamber and local Councils (Kengashes) of the Republic of Uzbekistan at a high level
Hello, dear participants of the press conference,
Ladies and gentlemen,
Members of the Central Election Commission, observers from abroad and international organizations accredited by the Central Election Commission, representatives of local and foreign media, authorized representatives of political parties and representatives of civil society institutions will directly participate in today's press conference on the elections of deputies to the Legislative Chamber and local Councils (Kengashes) of the Republic of Uzbekistan.
The press conference will also be broadcast online on a number of state and non-state television channels, as well as on the social media pages of the Central Election Commission.
Tomorrow, Sunday, October 27, elections of deputies to the Legislative Chamber of the Oliy Majlis of the Republic of Uzbekistan and local Councils (Kengashes) will be held.
Numerous preparations for the elections have been made throughout our country. With your permission, I would like to briefly talk about the preparatory work for the elections.
In view of the special importance of elections in the life of the country and in order to fully engage citizens in this process, the elections on October 27 will be held under the motto “My Choice - Prosperous Homeland”.
Dear participants of the press conference,
Due to changes in our legislation, this year's elections will be held under a new system of election management bodies:
· Central Election Commission;
· Territorial Election Commissions, Central Election Commission of the Republic of Karakalpakstan;
· District and City Election Commissions;
· District Election Commissions for the elections to the Councils (Kengashes) of People's Deputies in the regions and the city of Tashkent;
· Precinct Election Commissions.
The Central Election Commission is at the head of the system of election commissions and organizes the preparation and conduct of elections for the deputies of the Oliy Majlis and the local Councils (Kengashes).
Territorial Election Commissions were formed within the borders of the regions and the city of Tashkent.
One of the main tasks of the Territorial Election Commissions is to organize the preparation and conduct of the elections of the deputies of the Legislative Chamber, the local Councils (Kengashes) in the respective territory as well as to determine the election results for the respective territory in the elections of the deputies of the Legislative Chamber and to transmit them to the Central Election Commission.
The Central Election Commission of the Republic of Karakalpakstan shall exercise the powers of the Territorial Election Commissions for the preparation and conduct of elections of deputies to the Legislative Chamber on the territory of the Republic of Karakalpakstan.
The total number of members of the Territorial Election Commissions is 284 (58,9 % men, 41,1 % women).
The Territorial Election Commissions are composed of people from different professions - experienced lawyers, economists, teachers, journalists, doctors, engineers. The fact that almost all Commission members are university-educated professionals increases the prestige and responsibility of the Commissions.
The Constituency Election Commission organizes the preparation and conduct of the elections of the Jokari Kenes of the Republic of Karakalpakstan, the Councils (Kengashes) of People's Deputies in the regions and the city of Tashkent.
The Territorial Election Commissions formed 725 Constituency Election Commissions.
The Constituency Election Commission, City Election Commission shall be established for the preparation and conduct of elections of deputies to the Legislative Chamber and local Councils (Kengashes) in the territory of the respective district or city.
The Constituency Election Commission and City Election Commissions have been set up in 208 district and cities of our republic.
The main tasks of the Precinct Election Commission are the organization of voting in the precinct on Election Day, the counting of votes and the determination of the results in its territory.
There are 11,028 polling stations set up by the Territorial Election Commissions.
The Central Election Commission has established 57 polling stations in the diplomatic and consular missions of the Republic of Uzbekistan in 40 countries attached to the territory of the city of Tashkent.
The total number of members of the Precinct Election Commission is 116.5 thousand. 53.6% of the members are women.
The total number of women in the positions of Chairperson, Deputy Chairperson and Secretary of the Precinct Election Commissions exceeds 22.9%.
There are a total of 1,338 people with disabilities.
I would like to emphasize one more thing: 52% of the members of the Precinct Election Commissions are young people between the ages of 21 and 40.
The introduction of digital technologies into the electoral process in Uzbekistan is one of the most important areas receiving constant attention.
This includes the Single Electronic List of Voters, successful application of the Election Management Information System in the elections of recent years.
As noted, the introduction of the "E-Saylov" information system into the national electoral system in cooperation with the Ministry of Digital Technologies is an important innovation in this year's elections.
The information system was used professionally by 32,000 participants in the election process. Communication with users was established through 40 types of SMS notifications.
At the same time, the interactive portal “E-Saylov” has created a number of possibilities to ensure the openness of the elections and to provide the population with information about the elections.
In particular, information on the number of voters, the number of constituencies, the boundaries of single-mandate constituencies for the elections to the Legislative Chamber of the Oliy Majlis, information on all candidates for deputies, CVs and programs of the candidates for deputies of the Legislative Chamber were published for public knowledge.
In addition, a range of useful and important information (videos, electoral legislation, frequently asked questions, various guidelines and instructions) is provided for voters, political parties, candidates, domestic and foreign observers and local and foreign media.
The “E-Saylov” information system was integrated with the inter-agency integration platform of the digital government and automatically received data from the databases of the responsible authorities. This enabled the automatic generation of around 20 types of information, including surname and first name, photo, education, specialty, place of work and position of the person.
These options save participants in the electoral process time and administrative costs and create additional convenience for them.
“E-Saylov” information system was used successfully in this year's elections and all its functions worked perfectly. As all processes were handled via the system, a fairly extensive database was created. In particular, the Big Data of 128,000 members of Election Commissions, more than 1,000 authorized representatives of parties, almost 30,000 deputy candidates, more than 2.3 thousand proxies of candidates, 65,000 local observers, representatives of more than 2,000 local and foreign media and foreign and international observers, in total about 230,000 participants in the election process, were recorded.
The “E-Saylov” system, which was introduced into the national electoral system of our country for the first time, fully proves its usefulness in the preparation of elections. The advantage of this interactive portal is that a total of 29,350 candidates for deputies registered by the Election Commissions can receive information on their cell phones that they are registered as candidates for deputies for the elections of the respective representative bodies, that there is a possibility of proxy registration via the “E-Saylov” system, and that notifications about the start and duration of the election campaign have also been sent via the system.
In addition, around 10 other SMS notifications related to the election process were sent to candidates during the campaign. The observers of the political parties and the candidates' proxies were also registered via the “E-Saylov” system and their certificates were automatically generated and sent to them via the system.
Video cameras were installed in some polling stations in all districts and cities of the country to broadcast the voting process in real time (online) on Election Day.
This will make it possible to follow the election process in real time (online) on the screens of the Press Center of the Central Election Commission, on the official website saylov.uz, as well as on the channel «Oʻzbekiston 24» and other television channels of the National Television and Radio Company of Uzbekistan.
Moreover, for the first time in the history of our country, the organization and conduct of electronic voting on Election Day will be introduced on a trial basis in some polling stations in Tashkent to create additional conditions for voters in the elections of deputies to the Legislative Chamber of the Oliy Majlis and local Councils (Kengashes).
Electronic voting machines, which are being tested in this year's elections, have already been deployed in 37 countries, including advanced countries such as the United States, Germany, the United Kingdom, Italy, Brazil, Singapore and Australia, where more than 6.5 billion voters have cast their votes.
It should be noted that electronic voting machines are used to quickly determine the results of votes and elections, ensure the legitimacy of electoral processes and optimize the workload of Election Commissions.
In the single-mandate constituencies, a total of 375 candidates were registered, nominated by the five political parties authorized to participate in the election campaign for the deputies of the Legislative Chamber of the Oliy Majlis.
A total of 500 candidates were registered to be nominated by these five political parties for the Legislative Chamber of the Oliy Majlis in a nationwide constituency. It is known that a party list can field 75-100 candidates for deputies in a nationwide constituency.
For the first time in our history, five political parties have nominated 100 percent of candidates for deputies at all levels.
In particular, this year the political parties had the opportunity to nominate a total of 875 candidates for the Legislative Chamber, 3,625 candidates for the Jokari Kenes of the Republic of Karakalpakstan, for the Councils (Kengashes) of People's Deputies in the regions and the city of Tashkent and 24,850 candidates for the district and city Councils (Kengashes) of People's Deputies, i.e. in all constituencies.
The introduction of the interactive portal “E-Saylov” was also important in this context. Thanks to this system, the political parties were able to contact the Election Commissions immediately to check whether the candidates complied with the law.
Among the candidates nominated by the political parties for the Legislative Chamber, 391 were women, or 44.7%. This is the highest number in our electoral history. Compared to previous elections, the candidates are significantly younger. The average age of candidates for the Legislative Chamber is 47.2 years. Of these, 44.2 percent are younger than 45, 44.3 percent are 45-60 years old. The youngest candidate is 25 years old.
99.3 percent of the candidates have a higher education.
The candidates include economists with 20.2 percent, educators with 27.9 percent, engineers with 7.9 percent, doctors with 9.1 percent, lawyers with 16.5 percent and entrepreneurs, farmers and representatives of other sectors with 18.4 percent.
The candidates for deputies include representatives of the majority of nationalities and peoples living in our country. Among the candidates for the Legislative Chamber and local Councils (Kengashes) there are 973 Tajiks, 588 Kazakhs, 146 Turkmens, 141 Kyrgyz, 67 Russians and representatives of other nationalities.
It is well known that election canvassing is an activity carried out during an election campaign aimed at encouraging voters to vote for a particular candidate or political party.
The Central Election Commission Resolution No. 1384 of September 20, 2024 stipulated that the election campaign for the election of deputies to the Legislative Chamber and local Councils (Kengashes) would begin on September 22, 2024.
In addition, the media appearances of the candidates for deputies and the political parties during the election campaign take place in the order in which the political parties are admitted to participate in the elections, as follows:
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.
The election campaign ended on October 25.
Campaigning is prohibited on Election Day and the day before the election.
By decision of the Central Election Commission, candidates for deputies and political parties were granted equal conditions in the use of state media for campaigning by providing free airtime and the same amount of printing space.
According to the decision of the Central Election Commission, candidates and political parties were allocated free airtime and printing space on the state central and regional television and radio channels and in newspapers during the election campaign. Accordingly, the political parties were allocated 165 minutes of free airtime for campaigning on each national TV and radio channel and a total of 2,100 minutes on regional TV and radio channels for each party.
In addition, free printing space in national newspapers was allocated for the election campaign period based on the size and frequency of publication of 6.5 pages per party and printing space in 25 local newspapers.
By decision of the Central Election Commission, candidates for deputies and political parties were granted equal conditions in the use of state media for campaigning by providing free airtime and the same amount of printing space
It should be noted that with the decision of the Central Election Commission of July 2, 2024, the Regulation on Election Campaigns was adopted, which for the first time regulates the preparation and distribution of election campaign materials using artificial intelligence technologies.
In particular, political parties and candidates for deputies must state in campaign materials created with the help of artificial intelligence that these materials were created with the help of artificial intelligence technologies;
Ensure that a person's rights to their image and voice and other personal, non-property rights are not infringed;
It is specified that the use of a person's image and voice, as well as information about another person, must comply with rules such as obtaining the prior consent of the person concerned.
For the first time in the history of elections in our country, ethical rules for election campaigning, developed by the political parties in cooperation with the Central Election Commission, were signed by the party leaders.
These ethical rules prevented the spread of false information during the election campaign, ensured that the basic principles of elections were adhered to and enabled voters to make their choice freely.
In the organization of high-level elections, it is important to strengthen the knowledge and practical skills of Election Commissions in relation to national electoral legislation and practice as well as international electoral standards.
In order to improve the skills of the election facilitators, a three-stage cascade method of training was organized. In this way, more than 120 thousand members of Election Commissions, trainers and operators were able to improve their knowledge in the field of electoral legislation.
The Central Election Commission and the Election Commissions of all levels have always been guided in their work by the principles of openness, publicity and transparency.
The establishment of the Press Center at the Central Election Commission is clear proof. It should be noted that regional subdivisions of the Press Center have also been established.
All meetings of the Central Election Commission in connection with the preparation of the elections were broadcast live via social media with sign language interpretation.
In order to improve the legal literacy of voters, 11,758 information materials were published on the official website of the Central Election Commission saylov.uz, 11 videos were published in the section “Video lessons about elections”, and all information about the elections was also posted in the section “Elections-2024”.
1207 pieces of information were published on the official websites of the Territorial Election Commissions.
SMS messages were sent to citizens' cell phones to remind them of Election Day.
Information material about the campaign and to promote voter engagement was distributed via TV channels - 17,544 pcs, 6,990 on radio channels, 689 in print media, 1,271 on websites, 10,634 on Telegram channels and 4,593 on other social networks.
In total, more than 47,000 outreach activities were carried out with partner organizations to ensure active voter participation in the elections.
More than 400 outreach and legal awareness-raising activities on the topic of “Elections and Youth” were carried out, reaching 1.5 million young people who are not members of any organization.
Leaflets explaining the procedure for voting abroad on Election Day, posters calling for the elections, and invitations for citizens participating in the elections were prepared and distributed in accordance with the established procedure for Uzbek citizens traveling abroad.
Posters with a circulation of 716,162 copies were printed in various formats and placed in crowded places to inform voters about the day of the election of deputies of the Legislative Chamber of the Republic of Uzbekistan and local Councils (Kengashes), political parties and candidates for deputies, and to call for active participation in the elections.
In addition, banners calling for participation in the elections were displayed in five different versions on around a thousand billboards across the country.
Videos calling for participation in the elections were also shown in subway stations, subway cars and bus passenger compartments in Tashkent.
Dear participants of the press conference,
Observers of political parties, citizens' self-governing bodies, foreign countries and international organizations, as well as journalists, including foreign journalists, follow the processes related to the preparation and conduct of elections to the parliament and local Councils (Kengashes) of our country, including the process of voting.
The participation of observers and media representatives is important to ensure openness and transparency in the electoral process.
A total of 851 foreign (international) observers were accredited for the parliamentary elections in the Republic of Uzbekistan, including representatives of thirteen respected international organizations, in particular the Parliamentary Assembly of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe and the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, the Organization of Turkic States, the Parliamentary Assembly of Turkic Speaking Countries, the Commonwealth of Independent States and the Inter-Parliamentary Assembly of the Member Nations of the Commonwealth of Independent States, as well as a total of 560 representatives of other international organizations, 46 observers of 24 election management bodies of other countries, 245 foreign (international) observers from 43 countries around the world.
Currently, 55 thousand observers of political parties and 10 thousand observers of self-governing bodies are observing the elections.
So far, 1,068 representatives of the local and foreign media have been accredited.
Dear participants of the press conference,
The Central Election Commission always pays very close attention to the special needs of citizens with disabilities when preparing for elections.
This finds its practical expression in the processes of preparing and conducting the elections of deputies for the Legislative Chamber of the Oliy Majlis and the local Councils (Kengashes).
When our Commission discussed the issue of creating additional conditions and opportunities to ensure the electoral rights of citizens with disabilities, representatives of four non-profit organizations of our country were present - the Society for People with Disabilities, the Society for the Blind, the Society for the Deaf and the Association of People with Disabilities.
Appropriate measures were taken to ensure the free and unhindered participation of persons with disabilities in the elections.
For example, a door-to-door verification of the list of voters revealed that there are 832,000 disabled voters, 105,000 of whom require assistance to participate in the upcoming elections.
In addition, around 16,000 volunteers were deployed to help all voters who are unable to vote themselves to cast their ballot
Adequate infrastructural conditions for the participation of persons with disabilities in elections have been created:
– All polling stations were equipped with Braille stencils;
– Specially equipped booths were set up in the polling stations for secret voting;
– Optical magnifying glasses were delivered to the polling stations where blind and visually impaired voters will cast their votes;
– The buildings of the polling stations are equipped with wheelchair-accessible ramps or a “help” button.
In addition, election information is provided through sign language interpretation, subtitles, Braille script and other forms.
According to electoral legislation, citizens of Uzbekistan who have reached the age of 18 before or on Election Day shall have the right to participate in elections.
A citizen of the Republic of Uzbekistan residing or staying outside the territory of the Republic of Uzbekistan shall have full right to participate in the elections.
The list of voters was drawn up on the basis of the Single Electronic List of Voters available in the Election Management Information System.
A voter is only entered in one list of voters.
The Single Electronic List of Voters comprises 19,944,859 voters.
For the first time, 506.8 thousand young people take part in the elections.
The procedure for providing an interactive service for determining and changing the polling station was introduced.
The lists of voters were made available to everyone 15 days before the elections.
Voters can view the list of voters in the building of the Precinct Election Commission, on the official website of the Central Election Commission (saylov.uz) and on the Single Portal of Interactive Public Services (my.gov.uz).
Local observers, citizen voters and other election participants may address requests, proposals and complaints directly or through their representatives to the Election Commissions.
According to electoral legislation, appeals must be examined within three days; if they are received less than six days before the elections or on Election Day, they shall be examined immediately and answered in writing.
An Instant Information Center has been set up in the Press Center of the Central Election Commission, which can be reached free of charge by citizens living in Uzbekistan at the short number 12-00 and by citizens living abroad at 55-500-12-00 (call center).
Citizens can use the call center to find a polling station and receive a lot of other election-related information in Uzbek, Karakalpak, Russian and English.
The instant information hotline set up on October 1 of this year has received a total of 612 appeals (as of October 25, 6 p.m.).
There were also 12 complaints about the conduct of the election campaign.
Since the announcement of the start of the election campaign for the deputies of the Legislative Chamber of the Oliy Majlis and the local Councils (Kengashes), 154 appeals have been received by the Central Election Commission.
A team of on-duty staff from the Central Election Commission, leading election experts and lawyers respond to all appeals from citizens, election organizers and journalists in a timely and qualified manner. None of the appeals received remain unprocessed.
According to national election law, voters who cannot be at their place of residence on Election Day are entitled to vote early.
Early voting begins ten days before the election and ends three days before the election.
This year, early voting took place from October 16 to 23.
In our country's polling stations, 1 million 15 thousand 948 voters exercised their right to early voting.
Voting for the elections of deputies to the Legislative Chamber of the Oliy Majlis of the Republic of Uzbekistan and local Councils (Kengashes) will be held on October 27 this year from 8:00 to 20:00.
The citizen shall present a personal identification document to a member of the Precinct Election Commission and sign in the list of voters. The citizen then shall receive a ballot paper.
If some voters are unable to come to the polling station for health or other reasons, the relevant Precinct Election Commission can organize voting at their place of residence at the request of these voters.
Dear participants of the press conference, please note the following information in particular:
On October 27, 2024, three types of elections will be held simultaneously in our country.
1. Election of deputies to the Legislative Chamber of the Oliy Majlis of the Republic of Uzbekistan;
2. Elections of deputies to the Jokari Kenes of the Republic of Karakalpakstan, the Councils (Kengashes) of People's Deputies of the regions and the city of Tashkent;
3. Elections of people's deputies to the District and city Councils (Kengashes).
In this year's election, voters will be provided with four types of ballot paper.
1. Ballot paper for the election of deputies to the Legislative Chamber of the Oliy Majlis of the Republic of Uzbekistan in a single-mandate constituency;
2. Ballot paper for the election of deputies to the Legislative Chamber of the Oliy Majlis of the Republic of Uzbekistan in a nationwide constituency.
The names and symbols of the political parties participating in the election are listed on this ballot paper in the order in which they are authorized to participate in the election, namely 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, the “Adolat” (“Justice”) Social Democratic Party.
3. Ballot paper for the election of deputies to the regional and Tashkent City Councils (Kengashes) of People's Deputies;
4. Ballot paper for the election of deputies to the district and city Councils (Kengashes) of People's Deputies.
At 8 p.m., the Precinct Election Commission will announce the end of voting and count the votes.
In the elections:
The candidate who has received more votes from the voters participating in the election in a single-mandate constituency than any other candidate shall be elected;
Political parties that have received at least seven percent of the votes of the voters participating in the elections to the Legislative Chamber in the nationwide constituency shall be given a mandate in due course.
The decision of the Central Election Commission on the results of the elections to the Oliy Majlis of the Republic of Uzbekistan shall be made no later than 10 days after the elections and announced on the official website of the Central Election Commission and other sources.
Dear participants of the conference,
In conclusion, I would like to point out that the Election Commissions at all levels in preparing the elections of deputies to the Legislative Chamber and local Councils (Kengashes) of the Republic of Uzbekistan organize their work in accordance with the requirements of the Election Code, strictly observing the principles of legality, independence, impartiality, openness, transparency and justice.
Dear voters,
Let us exercise our constitutional rights tomorrow, October 27 - Sunday - and take an active part in the elections!
Thank you for your attention!
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