Vote count to be recorded in all Georgian constituencies in municipal elections

There are 3,540,609 potential voters in the updated list which was handed over to the Central Election Commission (CEC) by the Public Service Development Agency (PSDA) today.

The Central Election Commission (CEC) of Georgia has called on voters to check their personal details on the website voters.cec.gov.ge as the deadline for making changes is 6 p.m. on October 14.

The European Parliament as well as the OSCE/ODIHR will send observers for Georgia’s October 2 municipal elections. OSCE/ODIHR has tweeted that both its short and long-term observers will monitor the elections. Twenty-five foreign organisations have been registered so far to observe the elections. The Georgian government says that it wants more international observers to prevent any question marks regarding the election results. 

Covid-19 patients who are undergoing treatment in hospitals and individuals in self-isolation or quarantine will be able to participate in the upcoming October 2 self-government elections, the Central Elections Commission (CEC) has reported. "Covid-19 patients in our country will be able to use ballot papers for the election of the mayor and proportional representation and consequently, will be able to exercise their right to vote,” Deputy Chairman of the CEC Giorgi Sioridze said. 

The ruling Georgian Dream (GD) party has announced earlier today that it will receive 50.9% of votes in Tbilisi while the largest opposition United National Movement (UNM) party will get 25.2% of the votes in the October 2 self-government elections in Georgia’s capital.

The Central Election Commission (CEC) has reported earlier today that the cases of pressure, abuse and threat on the district and precinct election commission members have increased ahead of municipal elections. "In some cases, there has been an attempt by observers to overstep their authority to stage a provocation,” a spokesperson of the CEC Natia Ioseliani stated. 

Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili says that if Georgia’s third president Mikheil Saakashvili will return for the October 2 municipal elections in Georgia, he will be arrested. Saakashvili has posted a photo of a reserved ticket from Ukraine to Georgia for the evening of the day of municipal elections in Georgia. 

Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili has addressed the country’s international partners and stated that the ‘government will ensure the upcoming October 2 municipal elections are held in a calm and competitive environment.’ "I would like to say to our international partners that our main ambition is for the upcoming local elections to be exemplary. These elections must be free, fair, transparent so that no one is left with any questions,” Garibashvili said. 

Election polls commissioned by the opposition-minded TV channel Mtavari Arkhi says that the ruling Georgian Dream (GD) party will receive 35% of the vote while the largest opposition United National Movement (UNM) party will get 30% of the vote in the upcoming October 2 municipal race. 

Eleven days are left until the October 2 municipal elections in Georgia when voters will elect 64 mayors and 2,068 members in 64 city councils. The lead up to the elections has been marked by the ruling party’s withdrawal from the April 19 EU-mediated agreement, an attack on journalists by right-wing activists in July during Tbilisi Pride events, the recent leak of alleged personal files and continued vows of Georgia’s ex-president Mikheil Saakashvili that he will return.

The Central Election Commission (CEC) of Georgia responded to the non-profit organisation Civil Election Commission’s statement that 683 dead individuals are in electoral voters’ lists in 25 Georgian municipalities and called it ‘disinformation and attempt to mislead citizens.’ The CEC representative Tornike Gigisvanidze stated that it is impossible for an individual to vote instead of a deceased person ‘as the voter is obliged to present the ID (identification document) card at the polling station.’ 

The Central Election Commission (CEC) head Giorgi Kalandarishvili has stated that the reason for the presence of dead individuals in the unified list of voters is the deadline which allows an individual to appeal to the body no later than 18 days before the election day in order to make changes in the list. "During these last 18 days, unfortunately, people are dying every day, therefore, in these 18 days, those who have died could not be removed from the list. These people obviously will be [in the list],” Kalandarishvili said. 

The vote count will be taped in 3,200 polling stations during the October 2 municipal elections in Georgia for the first time as part of an additional transparency measure, spokesperson of the Central Election Commission (CEC) of Georgia Natia Ioseliani has stated. "Video recordings will be promptly uploaded to the internet on the Google Drive platform. Video cameras will also be used to record the recounting procedure as well. As a result of electoral reform it will be implemented for the first time this year,” said Ioseliani.