Kazakhstan announces final results of new constitution referendum

Photo by Sanat Urnaliyev, photo editor: Dastan Shanay

The new Constitution of Kazakhstan, which was put to a vote at the referendum on March 15, 2026, has been adopted, Central Election Commission Chairman Nurlan Abdirov stated during the session in Astana held on March 17, where the final results were announced. These results are identical to the preliminary data the commission reported on March 16.

The majority of voters, 87.1%, approved the proposed amendments in the referendum, while 898,099 citizens voted against them. The total number of voters was 9.1 million, with 7.9 million voting «yes.» Separately, 127,868 ballots were recognized as spoiled.

«Therefore, the referendum results have been declared valid, and the draft of the new Constitution has been adopted. The corresponding decision, based on the voting results, will be published in the media,» Abdirov said.

According to territorial referendum commissions, 35 reports and inquiries were received on voting day. These concerned the subject of the national referendum, voting procedures, requests to change polling stations, polling station locations, as well as alleged violations of legislation on voting day. Territorial commissions provided responses to 33 of them in accordance with applicable law.

Following voting day, two lawsuits were filed with the referendum territorial commissions:

The first concerned the illegibility of the tactile ballot overlay in the Aktobe region.
The second challenged a polling station commission’s decision to remove an observer in Astana.

Both lawsuits were dismissed by the courts, as the plaintiffs’ claims were not upheld. All reports and inquiries received on voting day were handled in accordance with applicable law. Some submissions were purely for clarification or organizational purposes and the lawsuits did not find support during judicial proceedings.