Ruling party points at ‘another severe mistake’ by ISFED, says NGO’s ‘incorrect data’ helped radical opposition
The Georgian Dream ruling party has demanded ISFED present the evidence for the reported imbalance between ballots cast and voters’ signatures. Photo: Georgian Dream press office.
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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’.
- ISFED adjusts October 31 vote count results after detecting ‘technical fault’ in calculation formula
Following an internal audit ISFED adjusted the figures and said that the Georgian Dream ruling party received 47.6 per cent of votes instead of the the initially reported 45.8 per cent in the parallel vote count, while the United National Movement/Strength in Unity election bloc received 27. 4 per cent of votes instead of 26.4 per cent.
The ruling party says that like the initial data of the parallel vote count, ISFED’s statement on the imbalance between ballot papers and registered voters, is also incorrect.
If ISFED refuses or will not be able to present the list of the eight per cent of election districts the NGO will have to admit another rough mistake and ask pardon to the Georgian people and international partners for spreading false information and supporting a revolutionary scenario of the radical opposition,” Executive Secretary of the ruling party Irakli Kobakhidze has stated.
Head of ISFED Georgia Elene Nizharadze has stated that the ruling party 'is making incorrect accents and trying to shift attention to a minor error in data.'
Kobakhidze said that along with the recognition of the ‘rough mistake’ in the parallel vote count, ISFED chairmanship has made a ‘more scandalous statement.’
The ISFED chair has stated that she knew of the mistake in the data of parallel vote count by the end of November while the radical opposition has been using their incorrect data up to now. The fact is alarming,” Kobakhidze said.
He stated that the ruling party has tried not to make critical statements against the NGO not to further damage its reputation.
Despite the fact the mistake made by the NGO has become a major lever for the revolutionary scenario of the radical opposition, we have tried to make light responses and refused to publicly express a grounded suspicion regarding the manipulation with the parallel vote count data,” Kobakhidze said.
He stated that despite the attitude of the ruling party the NGO has recently released a statement which included ‘two rough mistakes.’
CEC chairperson Tamar Zhvania who has been accused of falsifying elections in favour of the ruling party has also stated that ISFED’s adjusted PVT results ‘strongly confirm that the official election results have been correct’. Photo: CEC.
In the statement ISFED said that the adjusted data made no influence on distribution of mandates, while, according to the initial data the ruling party received four mandates less, and another, a more serious, incorrect information that there were imbalance between ballots cast and voters’ signatures in eight per cent of polling stations,” Kobakhidze said.
Kobakhidze said that imbalance in ballot papers and voters’ signatures was detected only in 19 polling stations of 3,847 and amounted to 25 ballot papers of two million ballot papers.
He said that the imbalance reported by the NGO was confirmed in less than one per cent of polling stations and the country’s Central Election Commission 'immediately responded to the imbalance and recounted the votes.’
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.
Parliament Speaker Archil Talakvadze says attacking the October 31 parliamentary election results is first of all in Russia’s interests and asks the public once again to think about it.
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 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 head of the United National Movement (UNM) opposition party Grigol Vashadze has stated that he has left the party and said that the presence of ‘odious figures’ in the party and attacks on the diplomatic corps and ‘other controversies’ pushed him to resign. Vashadze said in his Facebook post released earlier today that he has done his best as the head of the party since January 2017 to make the party stronger.
The Georgian Central Election Commission (CEC) says that the data of the International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy (ISFED) NGO which shows an imbalance between ballots cast and signatures of registered votes in eight per cent of election districts, is incorrect.
Thirty-six MPs of the United National Movement-Strength in Unity election bloc have officially asked parliament to suspend their status. They claim that the elections were fabricated by the ruling Georgian Dream party and state that they will continue to fight from the street to force the government hold repeat elections. The Georgian Central Election Commission (CEC) annulled the party lists of five opposition parties earlier per their request yesterday, meaning candidates on the lists would not be able to replace opposition MPs who have officially refused to take up their mandates in parliament.
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.
Transparency International Georgia (TI Georgia) writes in its report that eight (of nine) political parties and election blocs which won seats in parliament in the October 31 parliamentary elections spent 37.3 million GEL on election campaigning between September 1 and November 17 of 2020.
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.
Transparency International Georgia has stated that the ruling Georgian Dream party had almost half of all parties' total revenues and expenditures, each amounting to about 60 million GEL, last year.
The International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy (ISFED) is concerned about the ruling Georgian Dream’s discrediting campaign against the organisation’s election monitors, reads an official statement of the ISFED.
The ruling Georgian Dream (GD) party MP Irakli Kadagishvili has dismissed reports by the International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy (ISFED) that the GD is forcing public school directors and teachers to campaign on their behalf in elections.
International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy (ISFED) has identified 20 pages on social media which were campaigning against the ruling Georgian Dream (GD) party ahead of the October 2 municipal elections and 25 anti-opposition pages.
The International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy (ISFED) has published its final report on the monitoring of 2021 municipal elections, which reads that the financial and administrative resources of the ruling Georgian Dream Party hindered an equal election environment.