GYLA, ISFED report vote-buying, threats from ruling party coordinators, activists
Only ruling party majoritarian candidates are participating in the run offs as opposition politicians are boycotting the election. Photo: Nino Alavidze/Agenda.ge
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The Georgian Young Lawyers Association (GYLA) and International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy (ISFED) have reported election violations in a number of majoritarian constituencies during the second round of parliamentary elections in Georgia.
Despite the noncompetitive second round, control of voters’ will remains a challenge like it was in the first round”, GYLA has announced.
GYLA further state that alleged ruling party activists and coordinators who are mobilised in the precincts 'create an environment of psychological pressure on voters’. It also said that their observers were prevented to fulfil their duties and threatened with health damage at two districts.
Meanwhile ISFED - which is observing the second round of parliamentary elections with 35 mobile groups - said that despite ‘a very low’ voter turnout, the ruling party coordinators are mobilised at various precincts, where they have observed alleged cases of vote-buying and election carousel.
A total of 443,969 people (20.74% of eligible voters) have cast ballots in the second round of Georgian parliamentary elections as of 5 p.m. today. One of the ruling party leader Mamuka Mdinaradze has stated that the coronavirus pandemic and opposition’s boycott are among the reasons of the low voter turnout in the second round of the parliamentary elections.
A total of 352,456 people (16.47% of eligible voters) have cast ballots in the second round of Georgian parliamentary elections as of 3 p.m. today. Meanwhile, voter turnout was 36.25% at 3 p.m. during the first round of parliamentary elections on October 31.
Opposition politicians - who have qualified for today’s run offs - call on their supporters not to head to polling stations today claiming the October 31 parliamentary elections were falsified. The opposition has unanimously declared their unwillingness to participate in the second round of the elections even though their names remain on the majoritarian ballot papers per law.
A total of 177,462 people (8.29% of eligible voters) have cast ballots in the second round of Georgian parliamentary elections as of 12 p.m. today. Meanwhile, voter turnout was 19.41% at 12 p.m. during the first round of parliamentary elections on October 31.
A total of 562,664 people (26.29% of eligible voters) have cast ballots in the second round of Georgian parliamentary elections as of 8 p.m. today. The Central Election Commission (CEC) spokesperson Natia Ioseliani has recently announced that the election run-offs were held in 'peaceful environment' and no 'substantial violations' have been reported.
All 17 majoritarian candidates of the ruling Georgian Dream party have won the run-off elections based on the preliminary results released by the Central Election Commission (CEC). As of now, the results from 1,043 polling stations have been counted, which is 52% of the total number of polling stations that were open for the second round of parliamentary elections today.
The Central Election Commission (CEC) has finished counting votes for the second round of the parliamentary elections in Georgia with the ruling Georgian Dream party winning all of the 17 majoritarian constituencies and the mayoral by-elections in Kutaisi.
"These elections have resulted in a diverse parliament where the ruling majority will face a strong opposition that can ensure proper parliamentary oversight. The only appropriate forum for this, as well as for debating and challenging diverging political views, is the parliament. For the sake of Georgia’s democratic consolidation, we therefore call on all parties to accept the mandates they won in these elections and enter into the new parliament,” said the co-rapporteurs.
The ruling Georgian Dream (GD) party has criticised interim election reports of Transparency International Georgia (TI Georgia), Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association (GYLA) and International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy (ISFED) ahead of the October 2 municipal elections.