TI Georgia records 160 violations on municipal election day
Transparency International Georgia says that the Georgian government ‘still lacks political will to hold elections in line with top democratic standards’. Photo: Nino Alavidze/Agenda.ge.
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Transparency International Georgia (TI Georgia) says that its more than 300 representatives observing yesterday’s municipal elections in Georgia have recorded about 160 minor and serious violations on the election day across the country.
We have filed 30 complaints and requested annulment of results in two precincts in Marneuli, in eastern Georgia,” TI Georgia says.
TI Georgia claims that its analyses of the pre-electoral environment and election day ‘has demonstrated that the government still lacks the political will to hold elections in line with high-level democratic standards’ and that the country is still ‘far off from its ambitious election reform goals’.
It has also slammed the country’s Central Election Commission for releasing preliminary results of the elections 11 hours following the closure of electoral precincts ‘which is a deterioration of its practice’ .
Analysis of t/ pre-electoral environment and election day has demonstrated that government still lacks political will to hold elections in line with high-level democratic standards and that Geo???????? is still far off from its ambitious election reform goals.https://t.co/Le7mkkjs1e
— Transparency Int'l GE (@Transparency_GE) October 3, 2021
TI Georgia says that most of its complaints on the election day concern alleged casting of ballots several times, violence at polling stations, verbally abusing journalists, hampering the observers’ activity, late filing of election result papers at precincts, violation of secrecy of vote and voter bribery.
It says that a new design of voting booths, which have their front cut out to prevent voters from photographing their ballots or taking the ballots out of the precinct, has questioned the secrecy of vote at smaller polling stations in regions.
The use of remodelled voting booths should be reconsidered due to a high risk of violation of secrecy of vote. However, it is important for discussions to continue about the reduction of risks of interfering in the expression of voter will,” said the organisation.
In its recommendations, TI Georgia has called on law enforcement agencies ‘to swiftly and effectively investigate’ all alleged instances of criminal violations and precinct commissions to ‘timely fill’ election result papers ‘to dispel any concerns of undue interference.’
A second round of mayoral elections could be needed in five large cities including Tbilisi where the ruling Georgian Dream party candidate Kakha Kaladze is leading. As of 10 a.m. October 3, the results of 360 precincts out of a total of 769 in Tbilisi are: Kakha Kaladze/Georgian Dream – 45.28% and Nika Melia/United National Movement – 34.27%.
Municipal elections unlike other elections have majoritarian, proportional and mayoral ballots counting of which requires more time, moreover, overall 43 political parties are registered for this year’s elections which is twice as many as in previous years, the Central Election Commission (CEC) has explained. Referring to the counting, spokesperson of the CEC Natia Ioseliani stated that ‘everything is being done in full compliance with the law.’
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.
A total of 1,160,413 voters (33.18 per cent of eligible voters) have cast their ballots in the Georgian municipal elections as of 3 p.m. today. Georgia’s Central Election Commission says that Racha-Lechkhumi and Kvemo Svaneti is still the most active constituency where 47.5 per cent of registered voters have cast their vote.
A second round of municipal elections in Georgia will be held on October 30 as some candidates did not receive enough votes to overcome the mandatory threshold, including in Tbilisi, based on the preliminary results of the Central Election Commission (CEC).
The International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy (ISFED) has released the results of a parallel vote tabulation (PVT) of the proportional elections for Tbilisi and regional cities, which says that the ruling Georgian Dream party received 46.6% of the vote, while the United National Movement received 31.1% of the vote.
The local municipal elections in Georgia yesterday has received high international attention which was monitored by 1,024 foreign observers from 52 international organisations. Various foreign ambassadors to Georgia has visited election precincts in the country and offices of local NGOs observing the elections and carrying out parallel counting.
Transparency International Georgia, which filed 42 complaints and seven lawsuits on and after the October 2 municipal elections, reports that neither district election commissions nor courts have upheld any significant complaints. The organisation, which monitored the elections with the help of 300 observers, notes that the district election commissions and courts upheld just four complaints and one lawsuit seeking disciplinary actions against some of the election administration representatives.