President proposes electronic voting for citizens abroad
Zourabichvili noted over a million Georgian nationals resided abroad while only several thousand of them were able to vote in domestic elections. Photo: 1tv.ge
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Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili on Friday came forward with an initiative of allowing citizens of the country living abroad to vote electronically in national elections.
Zourabichvili noted over a million Georgian nationals resided abroad while only several thousand of them were able to vote in domestic elections.
We have more than a million people abroad and only a few thousand participate in the elections. How long can this last? Today there is an opportunity to participate in elections electronically. [P]erhaps it is time to move on to using this tool to enable Georgians living abroad to participate directly in voting,” the Georgian President said.
In her speech dedicated to Diaspora Day, Zourabichvili also noted the need to involve diaspora representatives in politics and allow them to be represented in the Georgian Parliament.
Diaspora really is our strength abroad. For a small country [like Georgia], it is very important. It is true that we did not choose to have such a diaspora abroad [as opposed to it being caused by economic factors], but the fact is, we have it. We should know that they are the magnifiers and representatives of our country in the world,” Zourabichvili concluded.
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