Deputy Prosecutor General of Kazakhstan Zhandos Umiraliev reported the detection of 8 illegal public opinion polls on the upcoming national referendum on nuclear power plant construction. The public opinion polls were conducted by citizens in 6 cases and by legal entities in 2 cases, who had not notified the Central Referendum Commission in advance, the press office of the Prosecutor General’s Office of Kazakhstan reported.
4 citizens and 2 organisations were fined for failure to comply with election law when conducting public opinion polls. The citizens are to pay the fine of 15 monthly calculation indices (MCI) and the legal entities – the fine of 30 MCI. Work is underway to bring the remaining violators to justice, Umiraliev emphasised.
Public opinion polls may only be conducted by legal entities which are registered in Kazakhstan and have no less than 5-year-experience in this field. They are required to notify the Central Election Commission (CEC) in advance and provide a full package of documents, including information about poll workers, their professional experience, the regions where the polls are conducted and the methods of measuring used.
It is prohibited to publish poll results in the media and on online platforms 5 days before voting day and on voting day.
