Interim parliamentary, mayoral elections to be held in Georgia tomorrow
The electronic voting will be underway at 103 polling stations out of the total of 133, Ioseliani said, noting that at the remaining 30 stations the elections would be held using the existing procedure and ballot papers would be digitised. Photo: Nino Alavidze/Agenda.ge
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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.
Natia Ioseliani, the Central Election Commission’s Spokesperson, highlighted the “particular importance” of these elections in the modernisation process and noted it would give the CEC the opportunity to test the electronic technologies before the 2024 parliamentary elections.
Modernisation of elections - the introduction of electronic technologies is the most important stage in the history of our country, and all parties involved can contribute to the successful implementation of this process”, Ioseliani added and called on all involved parties to help raise voters’ awareness in this direction.
She also noted that the Commission had conducted “a large-scale, active informational and educational campaign” to inform voters about electronic voting.
The electronic voting will be underway at 103 polling stations out of the total of 133, Ioseliani said, noting that at the remaining 30 stations the elections would be held using the existing procedure and ballot papers would be digitised.
Electronic voting devices are not connected to the internet network and therefore there is no threat of cyber interference, the CEC Spokesperson said, adding manual vote counting would also be provided to ensure “transparency and reliability”.
The members of the relevant election commissions have undergone several stages of training in the direction of legislative innovations and the use of electronic technologies, and they are ready to serve the voters at a high professional level”, Ioseliani emphasised.
16 international observers and 426 local observers are set to monitor the elections, with 158 representatives of media organisations covering the election process.
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.
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.
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”.
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.
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”.