The Kyrgyz citizens living in Russia and Kazakhstan seeking consultations on electoral issues and procedures will now be able to make free calls using the hotline of the call center of the Central Commission on Elections and Referenda of the Kyrgyz Republic (the CEC); the hotline was launched in partnership with the United Nations Development Program.

The launch of the call center is aimed at involving wider communities of the Kyrgyz citizens living abroad in the electoral processes by providing advice on election issues and procedures: biometric registration, consular registration, inclusion in the voter lists and polling stations, etc.

The Chairwoman of the CEC Ms. Nurzhan Shaildabekova highlighted the importance of providing information through the hotline during the elections in 2020:

“Increased participation of our citizens in voting abroad is very important for us. One of the ways to raise citizens’ awareness of the electoral process and the rules of participation, as well as the candidates running for elections, is to create a hotline which would allow the citizens to get answers to various questions of interest. Raising awareness is an important condition to increase citizens’ participation in voting abroad.”

It is important to mention that people with disabilities, pensioners, youth and representatives of various ethnic groups are working in the call center as operators. Their participation was ensured by the UNDP project; the CEC of the Kyrgyz Republic arranged special training for them. Supporting the participation of people with disabilities, as well as representatives of youth, women and other vulnerable groups of the population in the electoral process is one of the key activities of the abovementioned UNDP program.

Ms. Yulia Shipilova, UNDP Senior Advisor on Elections in the Kyrgyz Republic, emphasized:

“Inclusiveness of the electoral process is a key principle of democratic elections and UNDP supports the efforts of the Central Electoral Commission to fully ensure that all categories of citizens exercise their right to vote. In this initiative, the CEC applied a comprehensive approach to the task, on the one hand helping citizens living abroad, to exercise their right to vote, and on the other hand, in accordance with international best practices, involving the most vulnerable categories of voters - people with disabilities, youth, pensioners and representatives of ethnic minorities in this work, ensuring their participation in the preparation and organization of the elections to the Jogorku Kenesh".

Telephone numbers for consultations on electoral issues and procedures: 8 10 800 0000 5727 (Kazakhstan) and 8 800 3018318 (the Russian Federation).