Tbilisi. On 2 October, local elections took place in Georgia. The European Union commends the Georgian citizens for exercising their democratic right to vote in these elections, as well as the dedicated electoral staff and observers, considering the challenging context of the COVID-19 pandemic. We welcome the fact that a full-fledged International Election Observation Mission was deployed.  “This mission concluded that the elections were generally well administered – though characterised by hardened polarisation –, that contestants were able to campaign freely in a competitive environment, and that the Election Day proceeded in an orderly and transparent manner. It also highlighted important shortcomings, notably widespread and consistent allegations of intimidation, vote-buying, pressure on candidates and voters and an unlevel playing field. In addition, the significant imbalance in resources and an undue advantage of incumbency further benefited the ruling party. Underrepresentation of women in the campaign demonstrates a need for greater commitment to ensure adequate representation in politics”. Read more… Source: eeas.europa.eu

Tbilisi. Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association within the framework of the Short-term Observation (STO) Mission provides the public with information about the events happening during the polling and the counting of votes.  “According to GYLA, procedural irregularities were observed at the various stage of the Election Day. The tense atmosphere in a number of polling stations during the day may have affected both the behavior of voters and the monitoring of the process itself. In some precincts, GYLA was deprived of an opportunity for monitoring; The facts of violating election regulations were revealed after the closure of polling stations too”. Read more… Source: gyla.ge

Tbilisi. Social Justice Center publishes a document that contains an analysis of visions of political parties in regard to implementation of social policy. “The COVID-19 pandemic further aggravated the socio-economic situation of population and forced them to confront toughest problems, including extreme socio-economic vulnerability, food shortage, homelessness. The role of municipalities in solving these problems is substantial - it is the local government that has to study challenges of population thoroughly and carry out effective interventions tailored to their needs. Unfortunately, despite the fact that the COVID-19 pandemic has caused irreparable damage to the socio-economic situation of citizens, pre-election programs of political parties do not envisage specific ways to overcome emerged difficulties”. Read more… Source: socialjustice.org.ge

Tbilisi. Transparency International Georgia, the International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy, and the Georgian Charter of Journalistic Ethics publish a joint report: Joint assessment of the pre-election environment of the 2021 municipal elections in Georgia. “As a summary, it can be stated that the pre-election environment was more or less competitive. All parties were able to run the election campaign, however, the ruling party enjoyed a greater advantage due to mobilization of administrative and other types of resources on its side. The pre-election environment got affected by a high number of facts of political pressure, threats, and dismissal from work or forced resignation, as well as by ineffective investigation of such cases by relevant state agencies”. Read more… Source: transparency.ge

Tbilisi. Social Justice Center publishes a document that presents an evaluation of pre-election programs and visions of political parties in regard to needs of ethnic minorities and regions densely populated by ethnic minorities.  “Unfortunately, the interest of political parties in communities of ethnic minorities is still low and it is almost impossible to find visions and ways for their specific needs, concerns and interests oriented changes in the programs”. Read more… Source: socialjustice.org.ge

Tbilisi. The Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association (GYLA) prepared the second interim report of a long term observation mission for the 2021 local self-government election. “GYLA registered cases of voter bribery, unlawful participation in agitation and use of administrative resources performed in favor of the “Georgian Dream”, as well as some opposition parties and independent candidates. The challenge remains to be attribution of government projects to people and affiliation of them with the party, which blurs the lines between the state and the party”. Read more… Source: gyla.ge

Tbilisi. The Institute for Development of Freedom of Information (IDFI) publishes a blog post: Death as the main narrative of the election campaign in Georgia. “Manipulation with the topic of death is not new for the Georgian political space. In 2012, first time in Georgia, the authority was transferred through elections, however, the election campaign at the time was again not aimed at political debates and voter awareness, but at moral delegitimization of opponents. ... If in the 1990s and early 2000s the topic of death and manipulation with it in the political arena was mainly linked to politicians and people related to politics, nowadays manipulation with this topic no longer has such a filter and death of a person of any age, origin or social representation can easily be used in political controversy, especially during the pre-election period”. Read more… Source: idfi.ge

Tbilisi. On September 28, 2021, Public Defender Nino Lomjaria met with international analysts, who have arrived in Georgia to observe the self-government elections under the auspices of the International Republican Institute (IRI).  “Nino Lomjaria presented the results of the observation of the pre-election environment in the context of human rights and introduced the mandate of the Public Defender to the guests. The parties discussed the election legislation, the quality of observance of regulations and other issues”. Read more… Source: ombudsman.ge

Tbilisi. According to information released by the International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy, in the wake of election processes, there has been observed organized activation and/or creation of anonymous pages and fake accounts on Facebook, posting damaging information and disseminating it in groups in a coordinated manner. They attempt to create information chaos on issues related to the elections and mislead voters. As the organization considers, the purpose of the campaign is to artificially create a background as if absurd disinformation allegations are being spread about the elections and, thus, cover-up objective criticism. People behind this campaign try to create information chaos, confuse voters and discredit critical opinions. Read more…  Source: isfed.ge

Tbilisi. Transparency International Georgia publishes an interim report of the study on “Misuse of administrative resources for the 2021 municipal elections in Georgia”. Observation performed by the organization for the municipal elections from June 1 to September 25, 2021 revealed that misuse of administrative resources for the elections is still a problem for Georgia.  “Ineffective investigation of alleged cases of intimidation applied against employees of budgetary organizations on political grounds, dismissal from work and harassment of candidates of opposition parties, as well as the politicization of public institutions and large-scale mobilization of employees of budgetary organizations for election campaign purposes by the ruling party, use of budgetary programs for parochial party interests and other flawed tendencies are main challenges to a fair election environment”.  Read more…  Source: transparency.ge

Ajara. The Civil Society Institute and the Khelvachauri Youth Center, within the framework of the “First time at the self-government elections” campaign, invite young people to meetings that aim at raising their awareness about activities and importance of self-government, strengthening the role of young people in self-government development, and supporting participation in the elections.  October 2, 2021 is a day when the self-government elections take place and it is important to ensure that as many young people as possible, especially those who participate in the elections for the first time, make an informed choice.  The meeting schedule is as follows: September 28 - 14:00 – Machakhela Village, at the Tskhemlara Bridge; 16:00 – Charnali Village, at the garden. September 29 - 14:00 - Online meeting with young people of the Khelvachauri center. Link   The “First time at the self-government elections” campaign is implemented by the Civil Society Institute within the framework of the “Building a Robust Alliance of Local Development Actors in Georgia” (Phase Two) project, with the support of a German organization “Bread for the World” and in collaboration with the Youth Center of Khelvachauri Municipality.  Read more…  Source: The website of the organization

Tbilisi. Today, the International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy (ISFED) presented a study – “Public attitude towards electoral processes”. Within the framework of the study, there were examined the attitude of society towards participation in the elections, in general, as well as the progression of electoral processes and malpractices during the elections.  According to information released by the organization, the document is based on the results of quantitative and qualitative research. Within the framework of the quantitative research, data were collected through a telephone survey methodology. There were conducted interviews with 3100 adults in Georgian, Armenian, Azerbaijani, and Russian languages. Collected data are representative of the population of Georgia, except for those living within the occupied territories. As part of the qualitative research, six focus group meetings were held with the socially vulnerable populations in Tbilisi, Zugdidi, and the village of Shilda. Besides, there were conducted six interviews with public servants from Tbilisi, Zugdidi, and the village of Shilda, and four interviews with representatives of various businesses from Tbilisi and Zugdidi. Read more… Source: The website of the organization

Tbilisi. On October 2 and 3, there will operate a Media Center of non-governmental organizations associated with the elections of local self-government bodies in Georgia. At the Media Center, non-government organizations, observing the elections, will provide journalists with information about the election process. The center will host briefings conducted by: Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association; International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy; Transparency International Georgia; Multinational Georgia; Human Rights Center. The Media Center of non-governmental organizations will be located in the hotel “Rooms” – Garden Hall, 14 Merab Kostava Street, Tbilisi. Only people who have been vaccinated twice are allowed at the Media Center. Read more… Source: osgf.ge

Tbilisi. The initiative group “Hippodrome-Concrete Free Zone” organizes a public discussion for Tbilisi mayoral candidates. The purpose of the discussion is to let expected mayoral candidates introduce their vision regarding further development of the park to the population, to argue about the problem of the hippodrome and optimal ways out of this problem. “It is the 11th month that an unlawful construction takes place on the territory of the former hippodrome. Tbilisi City Hall does not have the documentation necessary for the implementation of the project. Besides, due to its content, the project provoked protests among the local population and users of the hippodrome from the very beginning as the sketch project submitted by Tbilisi City Hall fails to consider the history of the park, its social significance, extraordinary specifics, and natural development, the general context of both the district and the city, and, most importantly, users themselves”, - is noted in the statement released by the initiative group. Read more… Source: osgf.ge

Tbilisi. Today, the International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy (ISFED) presented the second interim report for the official pre-election period of the 2021 local self-government elections.  The report covers the period from August 31 through September 21, 2021, as well as certain events, development of which began before August 31, continued further within the monitoring period or became known during the monitoring period. Read more… Source: The website of the organization

Tbilisi. Transparency International Georgia has launched a live blog on election irregularities and response.  The data covers the period till September 22.  Read more…   Source: The webpage of the organization

Tbilisi. Vakhushti Menabde, GYLA Democratic Institutions Support Program Director, Ilia State University Associate Professor, publishes his response to the ruling party. “The Georgian Dream analyzed interim reports on the 2021 self-government elections prepared by observer organizations, including GYLA. Findings of the analysis were presented to the public on Friday. We always review comments made in regard to our documents attentively, which allows us to improve them. We do not think that criticism is a one-way street and no one can respond to us or point out mistakes. On the contrary, we are always ready to listen. Therefore, I have read this analysis with great care. And now I would like to discuss it with you. Needless to say, I do not intend to speak on behalf of other observer organizations, so I will focus only on the report of GYLA”, - writes the author. Read more… Source: The website of the organization

Tbilisi. The Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association appeals to the Constitutional Court and demands to recognize boundaries of majoritarian constituencies established for local self-government elections unconstitutional. “By its decision N1/3/547 of May 28, 2015, the Constitutional Court of Georgia considered unconstitutional those norms of the Electoral Code, which defined boundaries of constituencies for the parliamentary elections in a way that violated the principle of an equal weight of electoral votes of voters. According to the common practice of the Constitutional Court of Georgia, “the primary goal and basis for the exercise of the right to vote are to reflect the will of citizens in final results of elections”. Respectively, an important component of this right is the ability of voters to affect the outcome of elections. Following the disputed norms, loss of weight and influence of electoral vote deprives voters of the opportunity to exercise his/her active suffrage effectively. In contrary to this, voters, the weight of whose electoral vote is raised, obtain an increased chance to affect the results of elections. Such an electoral system grants citizens unequal opportunities as well as fails to ensure that elections are held in accordance with the Constitution and the will of voters is adequately reflected in the final results of elections, which contradicts the principle of democratic governance. The decision of the Constitutional Court was about the right to equality of votes in the parliamentary elections, however, international experience confirms that the same approach is relevant for local self-government elections as well”, - they state at GYLA. Read more… Source: The website of the organization

Tbilisi. They believe at the International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy that the CEC should reconsider the issue of registration of representatives of the Belarusian CEC as election observers. “We, the International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy (ISFED) and the European Platform for Democratic Elections (EPDE), are concerned about the decision of the Central Election Commission of Georgia, which envisages registration of Galina Mkrtchyan and Olesya Urbanovich, representatives of the Central Election Commission of the Republic of Belarus, as international observers for the upcoming local elections in Georgia. We call on the election administration of Georgia to reconsider the issue of accreditation of Ms. Mkrtchyan and Ms. Urbanovich as observers taking into account the fact that they are representatives of the uncompromisingly repressive regime in Belarus who were directly involved in the mass falsification of election results during the recent presidential elections in Belarus”, - is noted in the statement released by the organization. Read more… Source: The website of the organization

Tbilisi. The Public Defender Nino Lomjaria met with Albert Johnson, Head of the OSCE/ODIHR Election Observation Mission. The violations detected during the pre-election period, cases of pressure on opposition parties, alleged cases of dismissal on political grounds, and ineffective response by the law enforcement agencies were the topics of discussion at the meeting. Read more…  Source: The webpage of the organization

Tbilisi. Transparency International Georgia presents updated data on election irregularities and responses. The information covers the period from 1 to 14 September. Read more…  Source: The webpage of the organization

Tbilisi. International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy (ISFED) presented today its first interim report on social media monitoring from the perspective of the 2021 self-government elections.  The report contains an analysis of the main trends that take place in the social media space in Georgia in the run-up to the 2021 local self-government elections. It describes the activity of official pages of political parties and local self-government bodies participating in the elections, as well as results of observations on anonymous and open pages operating for political purposes and other important trends. The report covers the period from August 2 through August 22, 2021. Within the reporting period monitors of ISFED thoroughly examined 1,126 posts. Read more… Source: The website of the organization