Five of Kazakhstan\'s 10 registered political parties -- Ak zhol (Bright Way), Auyl (Village), the Communists, Democratic Choice, and the Patriots\' Party -- including centrist and opposition groups, have appealed to the parliament and government to change an article in recently adopted alterations to the election law that calls for introduction of an electronic system of voting. The appeal, which was distributed to the media by Ak zhol\'s press service, argued that the conducting of elections in Kazakhstan is not yet sufficiently transparent for the country to use electronic voting rather than paper ballots. The parties said they fear that electronic voting would be more susceptible to \"all sorts of manipulations.\" The appeal called for the funds intended for purchase of electronic voting machines to be used for urgent social needs, including providing computers to schools and modern medical equipment to hospitals. The cost of an electronic voting system for the whole of Kazakhstan has been estimated at 4.2 billion tenge (about $32 million). Parliamentary elections are scheduled for this fall. (Interfax-Kazakhstan)