The GYLA continues to monitor the polling day.
From 8 P.M., the polling stations closed and the procedure of counting of votes started.
From 6 P.M. to 9 P.M., observers of the GYLA’s identified the following violations:
5 cases of casting votes by inked voters:
At precinct no. 37 of Kutaisi, 2 cases of casting voted by previously inked voters were identified. It turned out that representatives of observation organizations and election subjects who were present at the precinct had adopted an “act” with uncertain legal force and allowed these persons to cast votes on the basis of this “act” (at that moment, the GYLA didn’t have an observer at this precinct).
We would like to explain that participation of previously inked voters in elections constitutes a violation of law, while the authority to adopt such acts exceeds the limits of statutory powers of election observation organizations and election subjects.
At precinct no. 48 of Marneuli, 3 cases of casting of votes by previously inked voters were identified. Among these, 1 case was identified by the GYLA observer and 2 cases – by an observer of observation organization Human Rights Center.
Up to 70 attempts to cast votes by previously inked people
We identified numerous attempts to cast votes by previously inked people, though chairpersons of the commissions didn’t allow such voters to cast votes and turned them away:
Precinct no. 24 of Mtatsminda - 3 cases;
Precinct no. 85 of Marneuli - 5 cases;
Precinct no. 7 of Marneuli - 1 case;
Precinct no. 30.20.37 of Rustavi - 3 cases;
Precinct no. 9 of Zugdidi - 1 case;
Precinct no. 7 of Batumi - 1 case;
Precinct no. 48 of Marneuli - up to 50 cases.
At precincts no. 1, 2, and 7 of Mtatsminda, we observed several problems with inking where the ultraviolet light showed that citizens had been inked, while the citizens explained that it was nail varnish.
Information regarding alleged control over voters’ will
Yesterday, the GYLA made an explanation that giving voters an instruction to mark the ballot papers in a different form and to make a photo of this fact would constitute a violation of the Georgian legislation.
It should be noted that yesterday, on October 29, the political association Georgian Dream released a statement denying that they had given such an instruction.
The GYLA’s observers will be paying particular attention to the process of counting of votes and summarization of the results, in order to verify the veracity of the aforementioned information.
At this point, the GYLA’s observers have lodged 55 complaints and made 59 remarks in the logbooks in connection with the aforementioned violations.
The GYLA has actively observed the elections of legislative, executive and local government bodies since its founding (in 1994), trying to contribute to the conduct of elections in a quiet and fair environment and to steadfast observance of the Georgian legislation during electoral processes.
On October 30, the GYLA is observing the polling day of the second round of the parliamentary elections in Tbilisi and nine regions with up to 400 observers.
The static observers have been deployed to 300 polling stations across Georgia. Mobile groups are active in 45 majoritarian districts.
On the election day, the GYLA will be operating a special hotline by which citizens will be able to get legal advice regarding the polling procedures. The GYLA will also be operating a hotline for journalists and media organizations. By calling the hotline, journalists and media organizations can get information that is interesting for them and legal consultation about electoral procedures, violations on the polling day, and the response provided, as well as provide us with information about violations they have observed on the polling day.
The hotline number is 223-63-48.
On the election day, the GYLA – through its observers and analysts deployed to all the regions of Georgia – will be entering information into the electoral-analytical database in real time and analyzing it.
To get comprehensive information about violations on the election day, you can visit www.electionsportal.ge where you can write about violations you have observed by filling out an online form or sending a free-of-charge text message to this number: 90039.
The GYLA is going to assess the election day later.
The GYLA’s monitoring mission of the polling day of the parliamentary elections was made possible by the funding of the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Sweden, the Open Society – Georgia foundation, and the National Endowment for Democracy (NED). The opinions expressed in the statement belong to the Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association, and their content may not express the views of the donor organizations.
