Astana - A Conference on "Voters' lists, establishment of electoral commissions and participation of political parties in elections" took place in Astana, Kazakhstan on 4-6 December 2012. This activity was aimed at judges, prosecutors, defence lawyers and members of electoral commissions. During a three day conference participants looked at a number of issues such as : • standards on voters’ lists and the composition and functioning of electoral management bodies • standards in the field of participation of political parties in elections • different models of voters lists as well as electronic registers • different models of composition of electoral commissions • participation of representatives of political parties in electoral commissions. The lectures on specific topics were followed by workshops that enabled lively discussions and informal exchanges between the participants and the lecturers. This activity was organised in the framework of a joint project “Support to the election process in Kazakhstan” funded by the European Union and implemented by the Venice Commission.