Int’l community, NGOs on local self-gov’t elections in Georgia
Overall 1,815,767 voters participated in the local self-government elections yesterday. Photo: Nino Alavidze/Agenda.ge.
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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.
The British Embassy in Tbilisi has supported the preliminary judging of the OSCE/ODHIR regarding municipal elections in Georgia, noting that it was held in a competitive environment.
???????? supports OSCE/ODHIR in judging Oct 2021 ????????local elections well administered and held in competitive environment, but marred by reports of violations.
— UK in Georgia (@UKinGeorgia) October 3, 2021
Concerns raised must be addressed. Hope all parties will campaign for 2nd round in line with best practices@MarkClaytonFCDO
British Ambassador to Georgia Mark Clayton stated that the election day yesterday was an important day for the Georgian people.
Important day for people of ???????? as they vote in local elections. Good to see democracy in action, so I hope turnout will be good, despite the rain!
— Mark Clayton (@MarkClaytonFCDO) October 2, 2021
დღეს ???????? მოქალაქეებისთვის მნიშვნელოვანი არჩევნებია. ეს არის რეალური დემოკრატია, იმედი მაქვს აქტივობა მაღალი იქნება, ☔️ მიუხედავად. pic.twitter.com/7xxL3PoAsh
He visited the offices of the Georgian Young Lawyers Association (GYLA), the International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy (ISFED) and Public Movement Multinational Georgia (PMMG).
Pleased to support the work of @GYLA_CSO, @isfed_official & #PMMG. Civil societies play an important role in the electoral process, bringing in expertise, encouraging transparency & building increased public trust towards the system. #GVote2021 pic.twitter.com/oNg4hNXIMS
— Mark Clayton (@MarkClaytonFCDO) October 2, 2021
US Ambassador to Georgia Kelly Degnan has visited the election precinct in the Gldani district of Tbilisi and stated that ‘Georgia needs more political stability and not more polarisation.’
Ambassador's remarks to media after visiting precinct #54 in Gldani. https://t.co/oKcE12u0xU
— U.S. Embassy Tbilisi (@usingeo) October 2, 2021
French Ambassador to Georgia Diego Colas has also commented on the recent municipal elections in Georgia and thanked all public servants and civic associations involved in the process.
In ???????? as in ????????????????, we follow politics with passion and care v much about our democracy. This makes us closer. As local elections begin, I praise public servants and civic assocs working to ensure a serene process. Madloba @osce_odihr for the great work.https://t.co/rZ2pa7sRmw
— Diégo Colas (@ColasDiego) October 2, 2021
Estonian Ambassador to Georgia Riina Kaljurand and Ambassador of Norway to Georgia Helene Sand Andresen have also expressed their interest in the municipal election of the country and visited several local NGOs observing the voting process.
Nordic-Baltic feminist election process monitoring in continues with ???????? H.E. @RiinaKaljurand and ???????? H.E. Levrence at @Transparency_GE Another test of democracy as ???????? votes today. pic.twitter.com/2q7WXsfdAm
— Helene Sand Andresen (@SandAndresen) October 2, 2021
EU Ambassador to Georgia Carl Hartzell has called the municipal elections in Georgia a ‘test for democracy.’
"Local elections are the moment in time where the electorate get a say in the future of political life."
— EU Delegation Georgia ???????? (@EUinGeorgia) October 2, 2021
Find out what else @CarlHartzellEU had to say about today's local elections in Georgia. He visited a polling station, @isfed_official, PMMG, @cecgovge & met with @osce_odihr. pic.twitter.com/GFiePSsxNB
The EU delegation to Georgia along with OSCE/ODIHR has been observing Georgian local elections yesterday.
Together with @osce_odihr several Ambassadors of EU Member States visited polling stations to monitor the democratic process throughout the day.
— EU Delegation Georgia ???????? (@EUinGeorgia) October 2, 2021
Find out what they had to say.
????????????????????????????????????????????????@MaaikevanKoldam@AustriaInGe@ColasDiego@ItalyinGeorgia pic.twitter.com/4R4fiKG3m1
Ambassador of the Netherlands to Georgia Maaike van Koldam has also been involved in the monitoring process of the elections.
On the road in #Tbilisi ???????? on this important day, monitoring local #elections, hoping to see a large turnout of voters using their precious democratic rights in the electoral process. ???????? is also supporting the @osce_odihr electoral observation mission. pic.twitter.com/VHB37hTB8X
— Maaike van Koldam (@MaaikevanKoldam) October 2, 2021
The Embassy of Sweden in Tbilisi also participated in the monitoring of the elections in Georgia yesterday.
???????? Embassy teams are visiting the polling stations throughout ???????? 2 observe & monitor electoral process, supporting ???????? ’s democracy & electoral process. Some colleagues joined @osce_odihr observation mission 2gether with 4 LTOs & 6 STOs from ????????. Stay safe & vote! #GVote2021 ???? pic.twitter.com/E7wBD1Pizi
— Sweden in Georgia (@SwedeninGE) October 2, 2021
Transparency International Georgia (TI Georgia) has reported earlier today that the Georgian government ‘still lacks the political will to hold elections in line with high-level democratic standards.’
Analysis of the pre-electoral environment and election day has demonstrated that Gov still lacks political will to hold elections in line with high-level democratic standards and that ???????? is still far away from t/goals set by the ambitious electoral reform.https://t.co/I5BYGWKACZ
— Transparency Int'l GE (@Transparency_GE) October 3, 2021
The International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy (ISFED) has published the results of the parallel vote count based on which the ruling party is supported by 46.6 per cent.
PVT: Tbilisi Proportional Results #Elections2021 #GVote21 Read more at: https://t.co/Ds5eocUCZf pic.twitter.com/Z6WphIxbpK
— ISFED (@isfed_official) October 3, 2021
The Georgian Young Lawyers Association (GYLA) has reported that it wrote more than 80 complaints on October 2 municipal elections nationwide.
Some of #GYLA`s observers had to continue their activities in unfavorable environment. As of 8 PM, #GYLA had filed and written more than 80 complaints and remarks throughout the day.
— GYLA (@GYLA_CSO) October 2, 2021
Read more here ????#GVote2021@nika_simoni https://t.co/lLepZzgHYD pic.twitter.com/PYYSwPyLcz
Municipal elections are held in Georgia per a mixed electoral system. Voters have to fill three ballot papers: the first ballot paper is for mayoral candidates (which are elected per a 50+1 system. The winner is the candidate who will receive at least 51 per cent of votes, otherwise a second round of elections will be held).
The second ballot paper is for majoritarian candidates in city assemblies (The winner must receive more than 40 per cent of votes in the first round of elections to win the race, otherwise a second round of elections will be held).
The third ballot paper is for parties - they will need at least 2,5 per cent of votes to receive seats in Tbilisi City Assembly and 3 per cent in other city assemblies across the country.
According to recent changes to the electoral code, 40 members in the 50-member Tbilisi City Assembly are elected per the proportional electoral system, while the remaining 10 per the majoritarian electoral system (previously the share stood at 25/25).
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.
“Georgia’s local elections were competitive and technically well administered, but marred by widespread allegations of electoral violations, vote-buying, and an unlevel playing field, as well as intimidation and pressure”, the international observers have stated today.
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.
United States Ambassador to Georgia Kelly Degnan says ‘Georgia needs more political stability and not more polarization’. Degnan, who is visiting the precincts in Marneuli as an election observer, says ‘this is a very important day for Georgia’.
EU Ambassador to Georgia Carl Hartzell says that today’s municipal elections are a test for Georgian democracy, ‘which I hope that Georgia will successfully pass’, he said earlier today.
The EU and US embassies have assessed the October 2 municipal elections in Georgia and stated that the race was generally well administered, but was characterised by ‘hardened polarisation.’ They agreed with the preliminary findings of the OSCE/ODIHR and said that the contestants were able to campaign freely in a competitive environment, and that the election day proceeded in an orderly and transparent manner.
MEPs Marina Kaljurand, Sven Mikser and Viola von Cramon-Taubadel, who observed the October 2 local municipal elections in Georgia, have stated that the country held a competitive and well-organised first round of local elections ‘despite the extremely polarised political environment and challenging epidemiological situation.’
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.
Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili has met with a delegation of MEPs ahead of the October 30 self-government election run-offs and spoken of the Georgian government’s determination to hold the second round of elections in a free and fair environment.
The Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe issued recommendations following the October 2021 local elections in Georgia on Wednesday, saying the elections were technically well-organised, but marked by an unlevel playing field.