Election Day Results by 18:00

By 18:00 of the election day, GYLA’s observation has revealed mostly procedural violations:

Failure to properly perform the functions of an electoral commission member:

- At the polling station #19 of the Borjomi district, the number of issued ballots exceeded the number of signatures in the voters’ list. According to the commission members, both the voter and the commission member forgot to sign the voters list. Since the registering commission member was substituted at some point by another commission member, the commission is unable to tell – which of them have ommitted the signature (Similar case happened at the polling station #15 of the Borjomi district, in the morning);

Violations, related to the mobile ballot box:

- The voter, present at the polling station #13 of the Ozurgeti district has complained that they weren’t able to vote through the mobile ballot box. The commission member explained that there was a mistake and since this voter was on the voters’ list, they were able to vote at the polling station too. Therefore, the voter voted at the polling station. Later it turned out that the voter was indicated in the mobile ballot box too, although another signature was made next to their name (compared to the signature in the primary voters’ list);

- The mobile ballot box was returned to the polling station #15 of the Ozurgeti district without a seal.

Control over voters’ will:

- Unidentified individuals are present outside the polling stations #7 and #27 of the Borjomi district, counting the incoming voters. Voters were being transported to the same polling station, by cars and taxis. Voters are also being transported to the polling station #40 of the Ozurgeti district;

- Voters are bieng counted outside the polling station #2 of the Kazbegi district;

- Voters are also being counted at the polling station #7 of the Ozurgeti district, where observers of the Georgian Dream are writing down names and surnames of the visiting voters.  

Other violations:

- Simultaneously two observers of the monitoring organization “Civil Advisers’ Council” was present at the polling station #19 of the Borjomi district, which is against the law;

- At the polling station #20, family members of the voter were present in the voting booth. One of them was dictating to another, who to vote for.

By 18:00, GYLA’s observers have lodged 7 complaints to the precinct election commissions, 3 – to the district election commissions and 15 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. Static observers are deployed in all polling stations of Khashuri, Borjomi, Ozurgeti and Kazbegi districts. In Martvili and Kutaisi districts, GYLA observes problematic polling stations and the developments at the adjacent territories through mobile observer groups.

Hotline Number: 032 2 18 26 30

On the election day, GYLA’s electoral-analytical database collects and analyzes the information in real time, based on the data, uploaded by the observers and monitors from all the regions of Georgia.

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 next press-conference will be held on November 12, 21:00. On November 13, GYLA will evaluate the election day in its press-conference, 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.