Voters go to the polls in new elections following unrest that shook Kazakhstan

A woman leaves a voting booth after casting her ballot at a polling station in Almaty, Kazakhstan (Vladimir Tretyakov/NUR.KZ via AP)

Voters in Kazakhstan on Sunday went to the polls to choose lawmakers in the lower house of parliament, which is being reconfigured in the wake of deadly unrest that gripped the resource-rich central Asian nation a year ago.

Although the electoral field was unusually large with two newly registered parties and hundreds of individual candidates joining the race, turnout appeared relatively unenthusiastic – about 54% of eligible voters cast ballots, according to the national elections commission.