Georgia’s Central Election Commission to appeal court decisions on vote secrecy violations in southern, central precincts
The Commission also added only seven complaints had been filed across the country on election date and the following day, while “none of the conclusions” by international organisations tasked to observe the elections had confirmed “any breach of vote secrecy”. Photo: CEC
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The Central Election Commission of Georgia on Tuesday announced it would appeal decisions of district courts in the southern municipality of Tetritskaro and central city of Gori on violations of vote secrecy during last month’s parliamentary elections.
The statement followed a ruling by the Tetritskaro district court, which on Monday 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 Commission described the court's ruling as “unjustified” and rejected the annulment of the results from these precincts, noting the decision contradicted other rulings on the same issues in lower courts.
The CEC further stated the secrecy of the vote had been ensured by a special frame form used as envelopes for bulletins, which it said, when used correctly, prevented the identification of voters’ choices, adding marker traces being visible on the back of ballot papers could not be considered to violate voter secrecy due to the design of the frame form.
The election administration also said it had already appealed the Gori district court ruling, which on Monday upheld a claim by the International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy, a domestic electoral watchdog, and ordered Gori district election commission #32 to recount invalid ballots from 15 election precincts in the district.
The Commission also added only seven complaints had been filed across the country on election date and the following day, while “none of the conclusions” by international organisations tasked to observe the elections had confirmed “any breach of vote secrecy”.