ISFED: votes should be recounted in 8% of polling stations due to violations
There were more ballots than registered voters in some polling stations of Georgia. Photo: Nino Alavidze/Agenda.ge.
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The Central Election Commission of Georgia should recount votes in eight per cent of polling stations where there were more ballots than registered voters, says the chief executive director of the International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy (ISFED), Elene Nizharadze.
She said that this violation threatens confidence in the current election process, thus requiring immediate response from the election administration.
As an example, Nizharadze noted that at a polling station in Saburtalo district of Tbilisi, ballot papers exceeded the number of voters’ signatures by 54.
Nizharadze said that similar violations were revealed in the regional towns of Terjola, Akhmeta and Marneuli.
The International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy (ISFED) NGO has released the results of parallel vote tabulation (PVT) which says that the ruling Georgian Dream party received 45.8% of the vote, while the United Opposition bloc (with the United National Movement) received 26.4% of the vote.
Votes from 47 of 57 polling stations abroad have been counted, and preliminary data show that the opposition United National Movement received 44.89 per cent of the vote, with the ruling Georgian Dream party receiving 29.15%, says the Central Election Commission (CEC) which has already counted 90.56 per cent of the votes following yesterday’s parliamentary elections.
Local NGO Transparency International Georgia (TI Georgia) says the analysis of 170 election-related violations and 46 complaints ‘makes it clear that the Georgian parliamentary elections were a step back compared with the 2016 parliamentary elections’.
The ruling Georgian Dream party expects to take at least 92 seats in the 150-member parliament after the second round of majoritarian elections in 14 of 30 majoritarian constituencies in Tbilisi and regions which is likely to take place on November 21.
Georgia has held peaceful, just, safe and democratic elections, says Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili.
Former Georgian Prime Minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili writes on his Facebook page that the ‘political greed of the ruling party may cost the government and the country dearly.’
“Georgia’s parliamentary elections were competitive and, overall, fundamental freedoms were respected”, the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) said in its preliminary statement today.
The Georgian Central Election Commission has responded to a report that in eight per cent of polling stations, ballot papers outnumbered voters’ signatures on the list.
Local NGOs have called for a recount of election results in over 100 polling stations following the parliamentary elections on October 31.
Chairperson of the Georgian Central Election Commision (CEC) Tamar Zhvania met with the diplomatic corps and representatives of international observation missions to respond to questions about discrepancies at voting stations which have caused controversies.
The International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy (ISFED) has adjusted its results of parallel vote tabulation (PVT) based on which the ruling Georgian Dream ruling party receives 47.6% of votes instead of 45.8%, while the opposition United National Movement/Strength in Unity election bloc receives 27.4% of votes instead of 26.4% in the October 31 parliamentary elections.
The ruling Georgian Dream party has asked the International Society For Fair Elections and Democracy (ISFED) to present the list of the eight per cent of election districts where, per the NGO, the ballots cast outnumber the signatures of registered voters. ISFED admitted to a mistake in its data of the parallel vote count on the weekend, while the data has been used so far by opposition parties ‘as evidence’ that the ‘elections were fabricated’.
The head of the International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy (ISFED) Elene Nizharadze has resigned following a mistake in ISFED’s parallel vote count data. ISFED admitted to the mistake in its data of the parallel vote count earlier in December, while the data has been used by opposition parties for several weeks as evidence that the ‘October 31 parliamentary elections were fabricated’ by the ruling Georgian Dream party and the Central Election Commission. ISFED board members said that Nizharadze’s resignation came after consultations and a broad consensus in the NGO.