Ruling team proposes electronic voting starting in 2024 elections
Kobakhidze noted the Government was “actively working” on the implementation of the 12-point conditions outlined by the European Union, which, among other things, involves revision of the Georgian Election Code. Photo: Georgian Dream Press Office
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Irakli Kobakhidze, the Chair of the ruling Georgian Dream party, on Tuesday said the ruling team had made a decision on a widespread introduction of an electronic voter registration and voting system starting with the 2024 Parliamentary elections in the country.
Kobakhidze noted the Government was “actively working” on the implementation of the 12-point conditions outlined by the European Union, which, among other things, involves revision of the Georgian Election Code.
The political team of Georgian Dream has discussed this and made a decision on a widespread introduction of an electronic voter registration and voting system from 2024. [...] The successful experience of voter registration and voting with modern technologies allows us to implement this initiative on a large scale from 2024”, the GD official said.
Kobakhidze also said in the majority of polling stations - including in all cities and large settlements that “cover at least 70 percent of voters” - voter registration and voting would be carried out using electronic equipment.
“Electronic voting will ultimately strengthen public confidence in the vote-counting process, ensure that more than 70 percent of votes are counted and results published within minutes after the closing of the voting process, and eliminate problems related to rigging exit polls and parallel vote tabulation”, he continued.
Our initiative will be introduced as a draft bill in the next few days, after which, based on consultations with the Georgian Government, the Central Election Commission and experts in the field, practical steps will be taken to equip the polling stations with voting equipment”, Kobakhidze concluded.
The Georgian parliament has re-elected Giorgi Kalandarishvili the head of the Central Election Commission (CEC) earlier today. Elected in a second vote, Kalandarishvili will serve as the CEC head for a six-months term.
The Central Election Commission (CEC) of Georgia published the preliminary results of the by-elections held on Saturday to elect a majoritarian member of the Parliament in Rustavi outside capital Tbilisi, and a majoritarian member of the City Council in the Black Sea city of Batumi.
The preliminary results show that the ruling Georgian Dream (GD) party candidates have won the by-elections both in Rustavi and Batumi.
By-elections are being held in the Georgian cities of Batumi and Rustavi on April 2, with voters set to elect a majoritarian member of the Parliament in Rustavi outside capital Tbilisi, and a majoritarian member of the City Council in the Black Sea city of Batumi.
The Georgian parliament approved new rules for the election of the head of the country’s Central Election Commission (CEC) and its members earlier today despite the calls of NGOs not to support the ‘simplified procedures.’
Aleksandre Rakviashvili, an MP from the Girchi opposition party, on Tuesday welcomed the ruling Georgian Dream party’s announcement on introducing electronic voter registration and voting starting with the 2024 Parliamentary elections in the country, calling the move a “step forward” for ensuring a fairer electoral environment.
Thea Tsulukiani, the vice prime minister and Georgian minister of culture, on Wednesday said the government’s initiative to introduce e-voting starting with the next scheduled elections would put an end to the “false rhetoric” of alleged election malpractice from the opposition and “once again show the real face” of the latter.
Speaker of the Georgian parliament Shalva Papuashvili on Monday said the introduction of an electronic voter registration and voting system starting with the 2024 parliamentary elections in the country would leave “no room for speculation”.
Givi Mikanadze, an MP from the ruling Georgian Dream party, on Wednesday said the introduction of electronic voter registration and voting in the country starting with the 2024 parliamentary elections was a “qualitatively new electoral system” of a “top standard”, in comments to critical reactions to the initiative by a part of the domestic opposition.
Rati Ionatamishvili, an MP of the ruling Georgian Dream party, on Wednesday said the new initiative for introducing electronic voting in elections in the country could cover 90 percent of voters instead of initially offered 70 for the 2024 parliamentary elections, with the remaining ballot papers being instantly digitised and uploaded online after their retrieval from ballot boxes.
The rules and procedural issues committee of the parliament of Georgia on Monday reviewed a bill on the electoral reform proposed by the parliamentary opposition and aiming to make it easier to organise voting by citizens abroad.
The evaluations of the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe’s Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights and the Venice Commission of the Council of Europe on electoral amendments implemented by Georgian authorities with the goal of gaining the European Union membership candidate status are “clearly positive”, Givi Mikanadze, a ruling Georgian Dream party MP, said on Monday.
The Georgian Parliament on Thursday adopted amendments to the country’s electoral code in their penultimate reading as part of the conditions set by the European Union in June for granting it the membership candidate status.
Georgian Parliament on Thursday failed to elect the Chair and members of the country’s Central Election Commission after the candidates proposed by President Salome Zourabichvili did not receive support from MPs.
Irakli Kobakhidze, the Chair of the ruling Georgian Dream party, on Saturday summarised the extraordinary elections and by-elections held in ten municipalities of Georgia and said the ruling party had improved the results of 2021 municipal elections in all electoral districts.
Georgia’s election administration will launch a “large-scale” public information campaign starting next week to raise awareness among voters to the newly introduced technology ahead of the upcoming 2024 Parliamentary Elections.
Electoral reform in Georgia was discussed in a meeting between Irakli Kobakhidze, the head of the ruling Georgian Dream party and members of the United Nations Electoral Needs Assessment Mission, the Georgian Parliament said on Friday.
The 11th edition of the International Conference of Election Management Bodies, dedicated to electoral technology and combating disinformation, is being hosted by the Central Election Commission of Georgia in the Black Sea city of Batumi on Wednesday.