UPDATE - Domestic voting ends in Kazakhstan’s nuclear power plant referendum

REVISES HEADLINE, DECK; ADDS PRELIMINARY INFORMATION ON VOTER TURNOUT; EDITS

By Burc Eruygur

ISTANBUL (AA) - Voting in a referendum on building Kazakhstan’s first nuclear power plant ended at domestic polling stations on Sunday.

The voting, which began at 7 a.m. local time (0200GMT) across 10,249 polling stations nationwide, drew to a close at 8 p.m. local time (1500GMT).

According to the Kazakh Central Election Commission, the preliminary voter turnout as of 9 p.m. local time (1600GMT) stood at 63.87%, with more than 7.8 million of 12.2 million eligible voters having cast their ballots.

Earlier, Deputy Foreign Minister Roman Vassilenko told a briefing that 13 out of 74 polling stations at Kazakh diplomatic missions abroad closed as of 7 p.m. local time (1400GMT), indicating that voting in the remaining polling stations was still open.

He added that observers from multiple international organizations, including the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, reported that they did not find any violations of electoral procedures.

Last month, President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev announced that a national referendum on the construction of a nuclear power plant would be held on Oct. 6.

After first proposing the referendum over a year ago, Tokayev said this was a critical decision for Kazakhstan's future, with many people voicing safety concerns.

These concerns stem from the tragic legacy of the Semipalatinsk nuclear test site in northeastern Kazakhstan, which was used for over 450 nuclear tests during the Soviet era.

The site was closed in 1991, but the memory of its impact lives on among the Kazakh people.