CoE Congress sums up local elections in Georgia

The Council of Europe (CoE) Congress of Local and Regional Authorities has released a report on the municipal elections in Georgia held on October 21, 2017.

The Congress was overall satisfied with the calm, uneventful and well-administered Election Day in most of the polling stations visited by the delegation, following a competitive campaign where democratic values were respected by and large.

The vote followed a mainly peaceful and competitive electoral campaign during which democratic values and freedoms were generally respected and candidates were able to campaign freely. An increasingly professional media environment fostered a more vivid political debate”, the report reads.

It further says "while, in general, there is a legal framework conducive to conducting elections in line with international standards there is room for progress with regard to more coherent regulations of party and campaign financing and a genuine system of electoral dispute resolution”.

On Election Day, three Congress teams involving seven observers from five Council of Europe member States visited around 30 polling stations, joining their efforts with the OSCE/ODIHR Election Observation Mission. Photo by N. Alavidze/Agenda.ge

From the Congress perspective, there are some issues that need to be improved, including:

• Voters’ lists: Only those who are permanently residing in a specific municipality to cast a ballot in local elections.
• Independent candidates should have an increased timeline for collecting signatures. Currently parties have 60 days, while independent candidates - only 10.
• Misuse of administrative resources;
• Grassroots’ democracy: Georgia should strengthen the capacities of local authorities and to continue decentralisation also in terms of financial devolution.

Presenting the report at the 34th biannual session of the Congress in Strasbourg, France yesterday, the United Kingdom’s Stewart Dickson said the Congress is ready to help and assist its Georgian colleagues.

And we thank them for the constructive way in which they have engaged through us at all times”, he said hoping the recommendations would be useful to improve future elections in Georgia.

Upon invitation by the Georgian authorities, the Congress deployed a high-level Electoral Assessment Mission in order to evaluate the municipal elections.

• Georgia conducted municipal elections for 2017 on October 21, where the country elected hundreds of local authorities, including city mayors and members of city councils.
• The run-off elections were followed as in six election districts where none of the candidates could receive more than 50 percent of mandatory votes in the October 21 municipal elections.