ISFED says it has ‘evidence’ school staff were forced to campaign in elections
The International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy has stated several times that school staff may have been forced to participate in election campaigning in Georgia. Photo: Nino Alavidze/Agenda.ge.
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The International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy (ISFED) says that a source gave them a document which allegedly proves school staff were forced to campaign in the recent municipal elections.
ISFED says that the document includes personnel data of the school directors and their deputies in eastern Kvareli municipality, who were allegedly forced to campaign for the ruling Georgian Dream candidate in the Kvareli city assembly, Ketevan Chipashvili.
1/3 We obtained a document confirming the involvement of school principals and their deputies in #election processes in favor of the Georgian Dream’s Sakrebulo candidate Ketevan Tchipashvili. Find out more: https://t.co/fSyc3ttQaw pic.twitter.com/oVpbRhd0GN
— ISFED (@isfed_official) November 16, 2021
The organization says they do not know who made the list or how the individuals were forced to participate in the electoral process. However, ISFED says that the document ‘includes signs of politicizing educational institutions.’
The organization called on the country’s Prosecutor’s Office to investigate the ‘alleged violations,’ and the Ministry of Education to look into the case.
ISFED has also offered legal services to school employees who believe they were forced to participate in the electoral process.
An election commission member of the Kutaisi No. 90 polling station, Iza Chirgadze, who claimed that she was forced by the ruling Georgian Dream (GD) party to give ballot papers to unregistered voters on election day - October 30 - denies pressure was put on her, noting that she was not in any danger, after having been missing for the last two days.
The International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy (ISFED) says that it is ready to lend support to election commission member of Kutaisi No. 90 polling station Iza Chirgadze, who said last week that she was forced by ruling Georgian Dream party representatives to give ballot papers to unregistered voters on the election day on Saturday.
Transparency International (TI) Georgia, which monitored the October 30 municipal run-offs, says that the public may have ‘legitimate questions’ regarding the ‘overall fairness of the elections.’ TI Georgia claims that violations, including physical confrontations, interference in the work of observers and journalists, and the admittance of voters to polling stations without checking electoral ink stamps, might have had a ‘serious impact’ on election results.
The International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy (ISFED) has assessed the October 30 municipal election run-offs as a ‘missed opportunity’ for Georgian democracy. The organisation monitored the second round of elections in all 20 constituencies where the run-offs were held, with 542 observers at polling stations and 100 outdoor observers.