Final reflections before the election day

Less than a day is left until the October 2, 2021 municipal elections in Georgia. There is a saying “time flies when you are not bored”, with which I totally agree. There is no time, not even a second to be bored. If you ask me, quite the opposite.

Every day since I set foot in the election administration as chair, not a day has passed without meetings planned or unplanned, much fuss and anticipation on my behalf of what comes next.

Elections have become an integral part of my life over the past few years, as I have been working for the election administration for a long while. Even more so since I was appointed the new chair of the Central Election Commission (CEC) of Georgia. Since my appointment on August 3, things have changed. From then on, I have felt some weight on my shoulders which sometimes I brush away to try and focus on things that matter the most.

 Photo by Central Election Commission of Georgia.

Georgia’s citizens deserve democratic elections, in which everyone’s vote counts and I am the person who is at the wheel of this machine called the election management body (EMB) and I should ensure all goes smooth and accurate.

That realisation sometimes keeps me up at night and the other nights I am happy doing what I can do best, working for people in the key field of the democratic world - elections.

Why is the upcoming vote important for Georgia’s election history?

There is no doubt that the upcoming election is one of the most complex and significant ones in many ways: for objective reasons, it is most challenging in terms of administering, complex procedures requiring a great number of human resources and on top of that numerous candidates running for mayoral and majoritarian seats or membership of Sakrebulo (local council).

 Photo by Central Election Commission of Georgia.

Then comes the political context, the high public interest, and last but not least, the pandemic. To sum up, this election is going to be a key event in the political life of Georgia and its citizens, and the election administration is going to be at the centre of attention.

So how do we deal with all that attention and pressure?

Well, there is no unique formula of dealing with that pressure but what I can say from my side is that a positive attitude is key regardless of what happens, then comes a well-designed informational strategy to provide members of the public with information about our work, projects and programs and our work ethic. At the end of the day, it is citizens, our respective members of the public, who will judge us, our professionalism and that is what counts most.

What are the main challenges?

Speaking of challenges, there are a couple of them of course, but I would single out the pandemic and disinformation as they seem most prominent in this regard. The pandemic and COVID-19 pose an immediate threat to the lives of people. Holding elections amid pandemic is the challenge itself regardless of our previous experience (2020 parliamentary election) of having administered elections during the pandemic.

A COVID-19 safe vote

To be well-prepared for the upcoming elections, we took several measures focusing on the safety of voters and other electoral stakeholders. As elections are nearing, I want readers and our citizens to know the measures we put in place so that they feel secure when entering a polling station.

Similar to the previous year, this year we did our best to safeguard voters and electoral stakeholders and the electoral process at large. To name, several decrees were incorporated which regulate rules for different types of voters including those in intensive care units, isolation and penitentiary institutions as well as regular voters visiting polling stations.

Photo by Central Election Commission of Georgia.

Our staff at all polling stations will be equipped with personal protection equipment (PPE) and the social distancing rule will be duly followed at the precinct. Also, together with health officials, we have organised a voluntary vaccination process for our employees and provide them with rapid antigen tests on COVID-19 on a weekly basis. This is, in a nutshell, our policy and approach in dealing with the pandemic.

With every passing day, I am more positive and hopeful that Election Day will be peaceful and we will have high voter turnout this time, as well.

My mood is partly due to all the work my colleagues are doing nearly 24/7, the progress we have achieved throughout the years as an institution, believe it or not, but due to our CEC’s doggo that meets me every day with a happy bark as soon as I enter the building. But all in all, we are moving in the right direction and if on the way we encounter obstacles which, of course, we do, with team spirit and years of experience, I am confident, we will overcome them.

Disinformation

Getting back to challenges, disinformation has become a leading challenge for many institutions and we are not an exception. Sadly, countering disinformation requires so much time and resources, I wish we could use that much manpower on other things, but that’s not an option. Fortunately for us but most importantly, for the electoral process, we have sufficient tools at hand to inform our citizens on pressing issues, our updates and our activities.

Our best response to disinformation is communication with the electorate and electoral stakeholders. We immediately release detailed statements and try to reach out to the general public.

 Photo by Central Election Commission of Georgia.

We use all media platforms at our disposal (CEC social networks: Facebook page/ Twitter account) CEC official website) to disseminate accurate information. Not to mention that together with partners we held training for media representatives so that the electoral process is accurately covered.

For the most part, our argumentative response and well-coordinated PR are the tools to keep updated members of the public and other electoral stakeholders and counter disinformation campaigns. Of course, there is a lot to be done in terms of combating disinformation but also in other aspects of the work of the administration, as there is room for improvement.

Photo by Central Election Commission of Georgia.

And I believe together with my team, we will introduce many more novelties and innovations in the coming months. No moving forward without keeping up with technological progress and our pilot projects demonstrate our approach towards adopting technologies, how much we and I personally care about being a modern, up-to-date and inclusive institution.

Last but not least, I want to thank our partners for their support, my team for always being by my side, and of course dear members of the public, for being active during the election period and I hope to see you all at the polls on October 2.