Court ruling finds violation of vote secrecy during parliamentary elections in southern Georgia

A district court in the southern Georgian municipality of Tetritskaro on Monday ruled in favour of a claim by the Georgian Young Lawyers' Association on violations of vote secrecy during parliamentary elections held last month.

In its decision, the court annulled the results of 18 election precincts in the Tsalka municipality, in the country’s southern region of Kvemo Kartli, electoral district #25 and 13 precincts in the Tetritskaro electoral district #26.

The decision came after an inquiry into reports of marker traces being visible on the back of ballot papers used in the vote, compromising the confidentiality of votes cast.

The Association noted the court's decision established a “new precedent for the protection of voters' rights to confidentiality”, and welcomed the ruling, highlighting its significance in “ensuring a democratic electoral process”.

The court examined a random selection of ballots from several precincts in the Tetritskaro and Tsalka, while the judge, who personally conducted the verification process, observed an “obvious fact of violation of confidentiality” when placing the ballot in the vote counting machine, the Association added.

Prior to the elections, the organisation had raised concerns about confidentiality during training sessions conducted by the country’s Central Election Commission, while in its reports during the vote day the SAIA reported the quality of the ballots “still posed a risk of leaving visible marks on the reverse side, increasing concerns about voter influence”.

The Association is calling for the annulment of results in all 2263 districts where electronic voting technology was used, asserting that the “massive violations” of voter secrecy breached the electoral rights guaranteed by the Constitution of Georgia.