2022 Kazakh presidential election

Presidential elections were held in Kazakhstan on 20 November 2022. This was the seventh presidential election since Kazakhstan's independence from the Soviet Union in 1991. Incumbent president Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, an independent, was re-elected for a second term in a landslide, receiving 81% of the vote. His closest challenger, Jiguli Dairabaev of the Auyl Party, received just 3% of the vote, marking the first time since 2015 that all candidates other than the incumbent president failed to garner 5% or more of the vote. This was the first national election since 1999 in which the "against all" option was included on the ballot paper. It received 6% of the total vote. Voter turnout was 69%, the lowest ever in a Kazakh presidential election.

Originally scheduled for December 2024, President Tokayev called for a snap election in his September 2022 State of the Nation Address, proposing a constitutional amendment to set the presidential term to a single, nonrenewable seven-year term. He also announced his intention to run for a second term, raising concerns that the amendment, adopted after the election, could allow him to serve beyond the two-term limit, extending his time in office since his first election in 2019. To address these concerns, Tokayev’s proposed amendment was ratified into law before the vote, establishing the seven-year term limit. He then set the election date for 21 September by decree.

A total of 12 candidates were nominated for the election, with six qualifying for the ballot. Among them were Qaraqat Äbden (National Alliance of Professional Social Workers) and Saltanat Tursynbekova (QA–DJ). For the first time, multiple female candidates appeared on the ballot. Tokayev was supported by the People’s Coalition, an electoral alliance of parliamentary parties including Amanat, Aq Jol, and the People’s Party, along with various public associations. Jiguli Dairabaev was nominated by the Auyl, the only pro-government party to contest the election. Nūrjan Ältaev, a former Amanat deputy and a member of the divided Coalition of Democratic Forces, was barred from running by court order. This left Nurlan Auesbaev as the only registered candidate from the self-proclaimed opposition Nationwide Social Democratic Party. Most of the candidates challenging Tokayev were seen as "pocket candidates" due to their relative obscurity and lack of popularity.

The elections followed the 2022 unrest and a constitutional referendum. Campaigns focused on issues like COVID-induced inflation, political reforms, democracy, and oligarchy. Other concerns included the use of the Kazakh language and socioeconomic issues related to agriculture, family life, and feminism. Protests questioning the legitimacy of the election were met with government crackdowns and prosecutions. Reports prevailed of internet outages, DDoS attacks, and pressure on independent media.

Tokayev was widely expected to win the election, and exit polls showed he received the majority of votes. He was declared the winner early on 21 November 2022, with the Central Election Commission officially certifying his victory on 22 November. Tokayev was inaugurated for his second term on 26 November at the Palace of Independence in Astana. Shortly after, he called for a January 2023 Senate election, dissolved the 7th Parliament of Kazakhstan, and set a legislative election for 19 March 2023.

The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) praised the election’s preparation but noted the lack of competition, emphasizing the need for laws to ensure "genuine pluralism".