By 12:00, the electoral process is calm. Majority of the polling stations observed by GYLA were ready for the first voter, in a timely manner. Majority of those polling stations were properly equipped.
The following violations were revealed by now:
Failure to properly perform the functions of an electoral commission member:
- At the precinct #15 of the Borjomi district, the number of issued ballots exceeded the number of voters’ signatures in the voters’ list (one extra ballot was issued). According to the electoral commission member, they and the voter both forgot to make a signature in the voters’ list;
- At the precinct #22 of the Ozurgeti district, two commission members turned up late, because of which they failed to participate in the casting of lots for the randomized division of functions.
Violations, related to the mobile ballot box:
- At the precinct #25 of the Borjomi district, the supervisors of the mobile ballot box took 16 ballots and 14 envelopes with them. They explained that while travelling by car, 3 envelopes accidentally slipped into the box (GYLA’s observer lodged the complaint at this polling station, requesting invalidation of the mobile ballot box results);
- At the polling station #12, the mobile ballot box was returned to the polling station at 10:00, already sealed. Later on, one of the voter’s family member has complained that their parent was not able to vote through the mobile ballot box, due to which the commission decided to take the mobile ballot box to the voters for the second time. After the remark by GYLA’s observer, the mobile ballot box was left at the polling station;
- At the polling station #42 of the Ozurgeti district, the registration place of the first voter was not indicated at the control sheet;
- At the polling station #1 of the Khashuri district, voter placed the envelope to the mobile ballot box, instead of the primary ballot box;
- At the polling station #29 of the Khashuri district, 49 ballots were present in the package, instead of 50.
Violating the secrecy of vote:
- At the polling station #37 of the Ozurgeti district, the voter willingly demonstrated their choice to the Georgian Dream representative.
Control over voters’ will:
- At the polling station #10 of the Borjomi district, the observer of the monitoring organization (non-commercial legal entity “21st Century”) is present, holding the prepared voters’ list (the version with the photographs of voters), where the ID number of voters is not indicated;
- According to the Central Election Commission (CEC) website, the monitoring organization “21st Century” is registered with 3 138 observers;
- Outside the polling stations #13 and #19 of the Borjomi district, unidentified individuals are standing with voters’ lists, counting the visiting voters;
- Voters are being taken to the polling stations #12 and #44 of the Ozurgeti district, by micro-bus taxis.
Violation of the casting of lots:
- At the polling station #8 in Kazbegi district, commission members arbitrarily exchanged the functions, assigned to them through the randomized casting of lots.
By now, GYLA observers lodged 2 complaints and 11 remarks to the logbooks.
On November 12, 2017, GYLA observes the second round of the October 21/2017 Municipal Elections in Kutaisi, Martvili, Ozurgeti, Khashuri, Borjomi and Kazbegi.
Hotline Number: 032 2 18 26 30
Also, visit www.electionsportal.ge for the complete information about the election day violations, where you can upload the information about violations, through online form or free of charge SMS you can text to the following number: 90039.
The press-conference schedule for November 12 is the following: 18:00 and 21:00. The summary statement regarding the second round will be publicized tomorrow – November 13, at 13:00.
GYLA’s Observation Mission for the 2017 Local Elections was made possible through the funding, provided by the EU, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Sweden, Norwegian Embassy in Baku, National Endowment for Democracy (NED), US Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Open Society Georgia Foundation (OSGF). The opinions expressed in the statement belong to the Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association (GYLA) and its content may not reflect the opinion of its donor organizations.
