Central Election Commission responds to report that ballots exceeded registered voters
The Central Election Commission says that the imbalance in precinct election commissions’ (PECs) summaries of the election results could be caused by objective circumstances. Photo: Nino Alavidze/Agenda.ge.
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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.
The International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy (ISFED) NGO stated yesterday that ‘it is a serious violation’ and urged the CEC to recount the votes in these locations.
Georgian Public Defender Nino Lomjaria has also called on the CEC to respond to the issue, adding that ‘this is the first time in eight years’ that the data of the parallel vote count released by ISFED did not match the official data released by the CEC’.
The CEC said in an official statement that the reports could be a ‘deliberate campaign to harm the image of the Central Election Commission.’
The imbalance in precinct election commissions’ (PECs) summaries of election results could be caused by objective circumstances. Namely, in a number of cases, a voter participating in elections by proportional electoral system, has no right to participate in elections by the majoritarian electoral system if the voter does not vote according to their place of registration. The latter causes an imbalance and the difference between the total number of votes cast for electoral subjects and the number of voters participating in the voting,” CEC said.
CEC said that if the imbalance is caused by an error made while entering the data in the summaries, the amendment document and explanations of members of relevant PEC eliminates the inaccuracy.
The European Georgia opposition party, which has received five mandates in the 150-member parliament, has refused to have its MPs take up their mandates in parliament and participate in the election run-off on November 21 in several majoritarian constituencies.
“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 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.
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.
MPs of the Lelo and Alliance of Patriots opposition parties have refused to take up their mandates in parliament.
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 National Democratic Institute (NDI) has released an analysis report on Georgia’s parliamentary elections, which reads that alleged irregularities in results summaries, widespread reports of potentially intimidating behaviour in or around polling stations, delays in the publication of results, and persistent perceptions of pre-election abuses of power detracted from notable improvements in the legal framework and administrative procedures for Georgia’s parliamentary elections.
Twenty-five local NGOs, including Transparency International Georgia, Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association and International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy, have said in a joint statement that the Georgian Dream government has failed to conduct October 31 parliamentary elections in line with democratic standards.
District election commissions have received 1,561 appeals as of now related to the parliamentary elections held on October 31 in Georgia, said Head of Human Resources Department at the Central Election Commission (CEC) Giorgi Kalandarishvili.
The International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy (ISFED) NGO says that there was an imbalance between ballots cast and signatures of registered votes in eight per cent of election districts on the parliamentary election day in Georgia, on October 31, 2020.