Kazakhstan's presidential election kicks off

NUR-SULTAN - Kazakhstan's presidential election kicked off on Sunday with seven candidates vying for the top office.

Around 10,000 polling stations were arranged home and abroad, including 65 in 51 foreign countries.

Polls in Kazakhstan opened at 7:00 am local time (0100 GMT) and will close at 8:00 pm (1400 GMT).

Central Electoral Commission (CEC) of Kazakhstan has registered 1,013 international observers from 41 countries and nine international organizations to monitor the voting process.

A total of 11,814,019 Kazakhstan citizens were registered as voters as of Jan 1, 2019.

Kazakhstan deployed about 19,000 law enforcement personnel across the country to ensure the elections proceed peacefully.