The electoral system of the Republic of Uzbekistan
An electoral system is the way representative bodies and the head of state are formed by voting. The principles of suffrage: universal (citizens who have reached 18 take part, except persons declared legally incapable by a court and those held in places of imprisonment under a court sentence for grave and especially grave crimes), equal (everyone has one vote), direct and secret ballot. Voting is voluntary: nobody can force a citizen to take part. Election commissions organise and hold the vote; the Central Election Commission heads their system. The voter list is published in advance, candidates are nominated, campaigning takes place, then voting and counting. If in the first round of a presidential election no candidate gets more than half the votes, a second round is held. Observers help keep the process open. The textbook (2019) describes only the majoritarian system for the Legislative Chamber. Since 2023 a mixed system is used: of the 150 deputies, 75 are elected in single-member districts (majoritarian) and 75 from party lists in a single nationwide constituency (proportional); this was first applied in the October 2024 elections.
“Class election”: each pupil secretly writes a candidate’s name and drops it in a closed box. Then two pupils count the votes as observers.