Exit poll: Five parties could advance to Kazakhstan's Kurultai

Exit polls: Five parties likely to enter Kazakhstan's Kurultai

Kazakhstan held elections on August 23 to the country's unicameral parliament - the newly formed Kurultai.

According to preliminary exit polls published by the Eurasian Integration Institute, the "Adilet" party is clearly leading with 71.8 percent of the vote.

The "Auyl" party came in second, with 6.4 percent of voters supporting it. The "Respublica" party received 5.4 percent, the All-National Social Democratic Party received 5.2 percent, and the "Ak Zhol" party received 5.1 percent.

If the exit poll results are confirmed, the five political parties mentioned above could take seats in the new Kurultai.

The People's Party of Kazakhstan received 3 percent of the vote, and the Green Party "Baytak" received 1 percent. 2.1 percent of voters voted against all candidates.

The official final results of the elections are expected to be announced no later than September 1.

The voting process was organized in more than 10.4 thousand polling stations across Kazakhstan.

According to the Central Election Commission of the country, as of 20:00 local time, 74.19 percent of voters had participated in the vote.

The elections to the Kurultai were held after the constitutional reforms implemented in the country. The new Constitution, adopted in a republican referendum on March 15, entered into force on July 1.

According to the new system, Kazakhstan has switched from a previous parliamentary system to a unicameral parliament - the Kurultai. It consists of 145 deputies, and deputies are elected every five years.

Some experts noted that the advantage of the "Justice" party was expected before the election.