Electronic voting may cover 90% of voters, other ballot papers to be digitised - ruling party MP
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 was not in the opposition’s interests. Photo: parliament of Georgia press office
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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.
Ahead of a discussion of electoral amendments at a plenary session of the parliament later today, Ionatamishvili said the initiative had been drafted in accordance with the European Union’s conditions for granting the country a membership candidate status and condemned the “radical part” of the domestic opposition for having “inadequate reaction” towards the amendments.
The radical opposition's reaction to the changes was so inadequate that it can be caused by a single motive - that there will be no room for speculations and manipulations”, said the MP. He claimed the amendments would “eliminate speculation on rigged votes and fabricated polls”, adding “that is why the opposition is so saddened”.
The amendments concern the 2024 parliamentary elections in Georgia. Photo: Nino Alavidze/Agenda.ge.
Explaining procedures for electronic voting, fellow MP of the ruling party, Givi Mikanadze, said last month that a paper, instead of a ballot box, would be used for voting, with the choices cast in an electronic counting machine.
There will be no remote voting to prevent security threats and outer influence on the process. The machine will not be connected to the internet, it will just count the votes electronically. There will be no invalid ballots, or need for exit polls or the parallel vote count”, he said.
Irakli Kobakhidze, the chair of the ruling Georgian Dream party, announced earlier last month the ruling team had made a decision on a widespread introduction of an electronic voter registration and voting system starting with the 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.
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.
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”.
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.
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.
Extraordinary and by-elections are being held in Georgia’s ten municipalities on Saturday, with voters set to elect a majoritarian member of the Parliament in Poti, Senaki and Khobi, majoritarian members of city councils (Sakrebulo) in Gurjaani, Tianeti, Akhaltsikhe, Tkibuli and Kutaisi, as well as mayors of Tsageri and Terjola, using “large-scale” electronic voting for the first time in the country.
Interim parliamentary and mayoral elections will be held on Sunday, with voters set to elect a majoritarian member of the Parliament in Gori and Kaspi, as well as the mayor of Gurjaani, using an electronic voting system, the Central Election Commission said on Saturday.
Giorgi Kalandarishvili, the Chair of the Central Election Commission of Georgia, said the interim parliamentary and mayoral elections across the country on Sunday had “proved” the “readiness” of the election administration, voters and the public for electronic voting.
Shalva Papuashvili, the Georgian Parliament Speaker, on Monday said the introduction of electronic voting across the country ahead of the 2024 Parliamentary Elections would “remove all kinds of speculation” by domestic “radical groups” about “rigged elections”.
The Central Election Commission of Georgia on Tuesday said the imprisoned former President Mikheil Saakashvili was “openly trying” to discredit electronic voting by spreading misinformation, alleging that the new system “is analogue to the Russian one” and would “cancel the 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.
Representatives of Georgia’s Central Election Commission on Monday introduced the electronic voting technology intended for introduction at next year’s Parliamentary Elections to employees of the Government Administration as part of the public information campaign for informing citizens about the novelty ahead of the 2024 vote.