Election Commission Chair discusses October voting with US, European NGOs, media, former diplomats

The upcoming parliamentary elections in Georgia, scheduled for October 26, were discussed on Friday in a meeting between Giorgi Kalandarishvili, the Chair of the Central Election Commission of the country, and representatives of the United State, and European non-governmental sector, media outlets and former diplomats.

Kalandarishvili briefed the officials about ongoing and implemented efforts of the Commission to conduct elections at a “high professional level in accordance with international standards”.

The meeting also discussed matters of registration of local observer organisations and ongoing work for public information campaigns on electronic voting introduced for the elections, with the Georgian official noting the CEC welcomed “impartial and objective observer missions” as an “important component for ensuring integrity of elections”.

The Commission said the representatives had the opportunity to personally test the operation of the verification and vote counting machines and participate in a simulated vote.

Kalandarishvili told the officials voters had received information about the introduction of electronic voting starting a year and a half before the elections, and noted "general demonstration” of the technology had been held throughout the country, considering the National Democratic Institute’s pre-election recommendation on testing election technologies on a national scale.

The parties also discussed challenges facing the election administration, including “disinformation about election processes”.

The meeting was hosted on the initiative of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation Organisation and German Marshall Fund and supported by the Rondeli Foundation, a Georgian organisation non-profit policy think-tank. The visiting delegation is also holding meetings with officials, political parties, civil society and expert circles during their time in Georgia.