Astana : To choose the successor of Nursultan Nazarbayev, who had led the Central Asian country since independence from the Soviet Union, voters have begun casting their ballot in Kazakhstan.
The snap election was called after Nursultan Nazarbayev's unexpected resignation in March.
Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, who became acting president, is seen as a strong contender to beat the six other candidates.
While Kazakhstan has seen many elections after independence, this is the first time in almost thirty years that the country will see a new candidate coming to power.
For the first time in Kazakhstan, a genuine opposition candidate is on the ballot, but organised opposition is weak.
Out of Kazakhstan's 18.7 million population, around 11.6 million people have registered to vote. Voting is scheduled to close at 8 pm today, while the results are expected on the morning of June 10, according to Kazakhstan's deputy foreign minister Roman Vassilenko.
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