According to the head of Kazakhstan's electoral commission, Nurlan Abdirov, 77.17% of voters supported the proposed amendments, while 18.66% voted against them. The official turnout was put at just over 68%. Among other things, the constitution now prohibits relatives of the president from holding high government office, and applies to both the incumbent President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev and his predecessor Nursultan Nazarbayev, who ran the country for almost 30 years. The referendum also deprived Nazarbayev of his honorary "leader of the nation" title, which helped cement his political influence even after he stepped down from the presidency in 2019. In early January, the giant Central Asian republic was shaken by violent social and political unrest that was ultimately put down with assistance from the Russian military, reportedly leaving some 200 people dead.