Statement regarding the voting process 18:30

12 July

18:30

For the second round of the Municipal Elections “Multinational Georgia” is carrying out the elections monitoring mission in Kvemo Kartli (Rustavi city), Kakheti (Telavi, Kvareli and Akhmeta cities as well as Karajala community of Telavi municipality), Shida Kartli (Gori city), Mtskheta-Mtianeti (Mtskheta city) regions as well as in three electoral districts of Tbilisi (Krtsanisi, Isani and Samgori) with the high density of ethnic minority voters. The monitoring mission will also cover the Central Election Commission of Georgia. It has to be noted that the monitoring mission of the “Multinational Georgia” will cover all the electoral precincts of Telavi, Gori and  Mtskheta cities.

 The monitoring mission will be executed by 155 observers out of which 115 are Short Term Observers (STO), 9 District Election Commission (DEC) observers, 30 Mobile Group (MG) Observers and 1 Central Election Commission (CEC) observers.

According to the findings obtained by the observers of the “Multinational Georgia” for the period of 8:00-18:00 the voting process has been conducted with minor electoral shortcomings.

At this stage, observers of the organization have filed 8 complaints. 4 complaints have been satisfied. The rest of the complaints are in a process of consideration. Moreover, 46 electoral incidents are identified by the observers of the “Multinational Georgia”.

• Observer has identified unauthorized people at # 6 electoral precinct of # 32 Gori electoral district, who entered the polling station through the alternative entrance. They were receiving information from the members of the precinct election commission about the proceedings of the voting process at the polling station. Observer of the “Multinational Georgia” has requested the closure of the alternative door. However, its request has not been satisfied. The observer has filed a complaint.
• Some voters have been included in the movable box voting list without their preliminary request. The incident has taken place at # 16 electoral precinct of # 32 Gori electoral district. The underlined voters have not been informed about the fact as far as they have appeared at the polling station to cast votes. Observer of the organization has raised an objection regarding this incident and requested the consideration of the personal responsibility of the secretary of the precinct election commission. The complaint has been drafted and filed by the observer.
• One incident of threat and physical harassment has been reported at # 25 electoral precinct of # 32 Gori electoral district. Observer of the organization has tried to register his objection in the electoral shortcomings registration book regarding the eradication of the procedural violation. However, his challenge has been met with the threat and the physical harassment from the part of the members of the precinct election commission. The complaint has been filed regarding this incident.
• There was an incident of the alleged falsification of the votes at # 3 electoral precinct of # 32 Gori electoral district. Observer of the organization has noted that the registrar was hiding the paper with the notes put on it. Observer requested the disclosure of the paper. After the order issued by the chairman of the precinct election commission, the registrar has disclosed the paper which has the names and surnames put on it. Observer of the organization has considered the case as well as the conduct of the registrar as suspicious and requested the consideration of the issue of his personal responsibility. The complaint was filed regarding this incident which has been satisfied. 
• The incident of appearance of unauthorized person together with the voter was reported at # 14 electoral precinct of # 32 Gori electoral district. The unauthorized person was trying to accompany the voter into the voting booth. The incident has been challenged by the observer. However, it has not been resolved. The complaint was filed and submitted to the precinct election commission. 

According to the findings obtained by the observers of the “Multinational Georgia” the turnout by 12:00 in 46 electoral precincts of 3 electoral districts (Krtsanisi #4, Isani # 5 and Samgori # 6) of Tbilisi with the compact settlement of ethnic minorities accounted for 13%. 

According to the findings obtained by the observers of the “Multinational Georgia” the turnout by 17:00 in 46 electoral precincts of 3 electoral districts (Krtsanisi #4, Isani # 5 and Samgori # 6) of Tbilisi with the compact settlement of ethnic minorities accounted for 23.6 %.

6 Call Center Operators are engaged at the head office of the “Multinational Georgia” to enter and process the findings as obtained from the program deployed observers into the elections data base. The Call Center is specially organized to obtain electoral shortcomings on a regular base which could hamper the conduction of the elections in a democratic manner.  

Every citizen can independently report the electoral shortcomings or any elections related incidents to the Hot Line of the “Multinational Georgia” which will be functional throughout the Election Day to allow the processing as well as delivery of the respective measures to mitigate the violation of the electoral law. The program is legally assisted by the lawyer of the “Multinational Georgia”.

The elections monitoring program is financially supported by the Delegation of the European Union to Georgia, Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, Open Society Georgian Foundation (OSGF) and National Endowment for Democracy (NED).

The content of the press release and other special announcements made by the “Multinational Georgia” might not reflect the opinion of the donor organizations.

The next media statement of the “Multinational Georgia” will be made at 22:00 at the Media Center regarding the procedural violations to be revealed during vote casting process as well as the closure of the electoral precincts.

Thank you for your attention!

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2015-11-27 11:25:41| | 7075