CoE Congress on Georgian local elections: technically well-organised, marked by unlevel playing field

The Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe issued a report following the October 2021 local elections in Georgia on Wednesday, saying the elections were technically well-organised, but marked by an unlevel playing field.

The Congress delegation expressed satisfaction with the election day procedures, particularly with regard to the pandemic-related safety measures. 

The rapporteurs noted Georgia’s election legislation was “generally conducive to holding democratic elections.”

However, the delegation also observed irregularities, including alleged vote-buying, which may have influenced the election process “to some extent.”

To our regret, the election campaign was characterised by extremely high tensions and the elections, instead of being about local issues, became rather a referendum about the current government. As a result, the local elections were overshadowed by national issues and I would even say that democracy on local level was taken hostage of the overall national political situation,” they explained.

Based on the observations, the Congress encouraged the Georgian authorities to take measures to reduce polarisation, to increase participation of women, and to strengthen the regulatory framework to ensure transparency campaign finances.

The Congress deployed an election monitoring mission to Georgia from September 29 to October 3, 2021.