EU ambassador: EU diplomatic watch will visit 1000 polling stations on election day throughout the country
Cartzell encouraged all voters to make their voices heard on Saturday, in a safe and secure manner. Photo: Nino Alavidze/Agenda.ge.
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On election day the European diplomatic watch will assemble no less than 70 teams and visit some 1000 polling stations on election day throughout the country, said EU ambassador Carl Hartzell.
He noted that their efforts are aimed to support the OSCE/ODIHR mission and said that they will be working with local observers as well.
For us, and for EU-Georgia relations, what in the end matters is not who will win these elections, but how these elections will be won. In other words, how these elections will be conducted, which is the responsibility that rests on the shoulders of all actors,” he noted.
Cartzell encouraged all voters to make their voices heard on Saturday, in a safe and secure manner.
Statement of EU Ambassador Carl Hartzell on the upcoming 2020 Georgian Parliamentary Elections.
— EU Delegation Georgia ???????? (@EUinGeorgia) October 29, 2020
➡️https://t.co/k1NlJcUNHF pic.twitter.com/kHTSw1kXHG
He noted the importance of a new electoral system and a historic agreement reached between key political actors on 8 March by which ‘the field of political parties with a real chance to enter the Parliament has significantly broadened, promoting an outcome where Georgian voter preferences will be more accurately reflected in the legislature.’
Hartzell expressed hope that more constructive policy debates and an improved culture of consensus-building will become the next logical steps, as this country moves towards fully proportional elections in 2024.
A day before the parliamentary elections Georgian Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia has urged people to make their choice at ballot boxes as the elections will define the country’s development for years to come. He stated that Georgia is able to show the world how to hold ‘exemplary elections’ despite the pandemic. "I will say once again. The pandemic will be over, we will also cope with the economic crisis. However, the elections which will be held tomorrow will define the country’s fate for years. That is why I urge our citizens to vote,” Gakharia said.
Mobile police groups have been created in every region of Georgia in order to ensure a free, secure and peaceful environment on election day on October 31. The Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) says that if necessary, the mobile groups are obliged to instantly react to offences during the elections.
US Senate Foreign Relations Committee chairman Jim Risch and Senator Jeanne Shaheen have made a joint statement ahead of the October 31 parliamentary elections in Georgia, noting the importance for all political parties in the country to respect and abide by international standards for a free and fair electoral process.
The European Union has announced today the deployment of a European diplomatic watch, which will send over 70 teams to visit over 1,000 polling stations in Georgia on the election day on October 31. Travelling in specially EU marked cars and wearing EU vests and hats, the diplomatic watch teams will follow all relevant COVID-19 safety precautions.
‘Go vote! Go vote in the peaceful, fair elections!’ ’Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili has called on citizens ahead of the upcoming parliamentary elections of October 31. Zurabishvili congratulated those who will be going to the polls for the first time. She said they ‘will take part in the development of the state for the first time and thus determine the future of their country’.
10,845 people in self-isolation or coronavirus hospitals are registered to vote in tomorrow’s elections.
Opposition political parties have agreed not to form a coalition government with the ruling Georgian Dream party after the parliamentary elections tomorrow if the ruling party receives less than 40 per cent of votes in the proportional elections. Per the constitutional amendments earlier this year none of parties will be able to form the government alone if they receive less than 40 per cent of votes in the proportional elections.
Georgians are heading to the polls today to elect the country’s 10th national legislature since independence from the Soviet Union back in 1991. For the first time, the elections will be held per a mixed electoral system, with 120 members of parliament (MP) to be elected via party lists and the remaining 30 running in single-member majoritarian districts.An election bloc or party which receives less than 40.54 per cent of votes (less than 76 seats in the 150-member parliament) in the proportional elections will not be able to form a government.
Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili has cast her vote in central Tbilisi earlier today, stating that ‘today, we all vote to build a dream country - a democratic, European state.’
EU Ambassador Carl Hartzell has expressed his hope that the voting process today in the parliamentary elections will be free from violations and intimidation, noting that this is the responsibility of all parties.
US Ambassador Kelly Degnan to Georgia addressed Georgians earlier today on election day, noting “these parliamentary elections are very important for Georgia, and the most important thing is to have a calm atmosphere and free elections for the people.”