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Kyrgyzstan held early parliamentary elections on November 30, with voter turnout reaching 36.9%, according to the Central Election Commission (CEC). Of the 4,294,000 registered voters, more than 1.5 million cast their ballots. Polling stations across the country and abroad closed at 8:00 p.m. local time. While an automated accounting system (AAS) was used during the voting process, Kyrgyz electoral law requires that electronic results be verified against manual counts. Members of precinct commissions conducted manual ballot counts after the polls closed. The CEC reported receiving 269 complaints regarding potential violations of electoral law during the campaign. These included 124 reports of campaign violations, 37 of the dissemination of defamatory information about candidates, eight related to the alleged use of administrative resources, 46 concerning possible vote buying, and 54 involving other types of violations. There were also reports of equipment malfunctions at several polling stations. Nevertheless, the CEC declared the elections valid. Elected candidates began receiving congratulations on December 1. The 2025 early elections marked a significant change in Kyrgyzstan’s electoral process. Party-list voting was fully abolished, and all candidates ran in single-mandate constituencies. President Sadyr Japarov cast his vote in Bishkek. He noted that the fully automated voting process this year significantly reduced opportunities for human interference in election outcomes. Japarov emphasized that citizens could vote using digital passports via the Tunduk app, and biometric registration took only a few minutes. While acknowledging that vote buying remains a challenge, Japarov stated that relevant authorities are responding quickly to any such incidents. He also noted that efforts to ensure the participation of Kyrgyz citizens abroad included doubling the number of overseas polling stations. A total of 100 polling sites were opened internationally, including in Russia, the United States, Kazakhstan, and several European countries.
The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) will deploy 300 observers to monitor Kyrgyzstan’s upcoming parliamentary elections. The country’s Central Election Commission (CEC) confirmed the news in a statement published on its official website. According to the CEC, 30 long-term observers will begin work next week, monitoring the electoral process across all regions of Kyrgyzstan. An additional 300 short-term observers will arrive closer to election day to assess voting procedures and the vote count. Ahead of the vote, CEC Chairman Tyntyk Shainazarov met in Bishkek with representatives from the OSCE’s Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR). Mission head Tamás Mészáros stated that the team had arrived in full and was ready to begin its work. The CEC noted that OSCE representatives expressed interest in attending meetings of the election commission and its working groups, both prior to and following the elections. Both sides affirmed their commitment to open and comprehensive cooperation. Shainazarov highlighted that Kyrgyzstan’s revised electoral system is designed to ensure fair representation of all regions in parliament, uphold gender balance, and facilitate remote voting. For the first time, a remote voting system will allow citizens to vote in any district without needing absentee ballots or additional paperwork. Ballots will be generated at polling stations, listing candidates from the relevant constituency. “We have achieved our goal: voters will vote only once and only for one candidate. This eliminates the possibility of fraud and other violations. I believe this is a great achievement,” Shainazarov said. The OSCE mission also showed particular interest in the technical details of the new system. Observers were briefed on the equipment and voting procedures ahead of the election, which will take place on November 30. As previously reported by The Times of Central Asia, the parliament voted on September 25 to dissolve itself, setting the stage for early elections. The decision was approved by 84 deputies, with five abstentions and one absence. The upcoming vote will be conducted under revised rules. The country has been divided into 30 constituencies, each of which will elect three deputies.
