ASTANA, Kazakhstan—Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev easily won a new seven-year term in a snap election in which the second biggest choice by voters was to reject all six candidates, the country’s central elections commission said Monday.
Tokayev received more than 81 percent of the votes in Sunday’s election, according to elections commission chairman Nurlan Abdirov. Five candidates were on the ballot against Tokayev. Nearly 6 percent of voters chose the “against all” option.
With a short campaign period that began in late October, candidates had little opportunity to mount significant challenges.
Tokayev has taken steps to keep Kazakhstan’s distance from longtime ally and dominant regional power Russia, some say in favor of Beijing….