The observation mission “My Vote” presents a weekly assessment of the pre-election period.
News about the observation mission
Monitoring mission – “My Vote” continues to register observers. At this stage, 2250 citizens have applied to us. The training of observers has started. Citizens of different professions and ages have already joined the observation mission. We are glad that many representatives of the cultural field have expressed their desire to observe. They will undergo training and observe the elections at the polling station like other observers. Representatives from various fields of society, including doctors, teachers, musicians, theater actors, and media representatives, participated in the observer mobilization campaign. Many thanks to them!
The anti-corruption service, controlled by the Prime Minister of Georgia has officially reversed the illegal decision to declare the monitoring mission “My Vote” as an entity with declared electoral goals. This is the victory of the Georgian civil sector. We believe in fighting against all odds.
Electoral lists
We positively evaluate and welcome the decision taken by the CEC to include in the special electoral list those citizens of Georgia who are abroad and whose registration address is in the occupied territory of Georgia or is unclear. It was confirmed that, as the monitoring mission – “My Vote” announced, the mentioned issue could be resolved based on the normative act of the CEC. Unfortunately, the CEC had denied this for a long time and falsely used the requirements of the law as the reason.
Today is the deadline for registration at the polling stations abroad. We encourage citizens living abroad to take advantage of today’s opportunity to go to consular registration or, otherwise, through election registration at a polling station/consular institution/diplomatic representation opened abroad.
We again call on the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to make public the number of citizens on consular registration as of September 26 and October 7, including the relevant countries.
Abroad, due to the insufficient number of precincts created, it remains a serious challenge for many immigrants to declare and participate in elections at long distances. The coalition believes that with the will and proper coordination of the CEC and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, it is possible to open additional polling stations in those cities where the concentration of Georgian immigrants is high according to the place of registration, and will optimally solve geographical and other barriers for them.
Oppression of the media
The oppression of the media continues. The Communications Regulatory Commission and the court have already fined critical media outlets for not posting the unethical and hateful “Georgian Dream” election clip on their broadcast networks. The court has also ordered the media outlets to broadcast it. The ruling party is now demanding the broadcasting of more new videos from television stations. Despite the threat of large fines, the three media outlets “Formula”, “TV Pirveli” and “Mtavari Channel” publicly refused to broadcast pre-election clips of “Georgian Dream” and considered it as “speculating on the tragedy of the Ukrainian people”. TV companies share the EU ambassador’s assessment that this is an “outrageous, shameful and appalling” campaign, and therefore refuse to broadcast the videos. The monitoring coalition – “My Vote” stands in solidarity with the media and calls on the ruling party to stop the unethical and dishonorable campaign.
Litigation in courts
At this stage, out of all the monitored court proceedings conducted on pre-election issues, 27 cases have been concluded. Complaints were mostly submitted to the court by observation organizations and opposition parties. At this stage, not a single one of the disputes has been concluded in favor of the appellant. We call on the court to make decisions by the principles of the rule of law and not by the interests of the ruling party.
Pre-election campaign financing
As in previous years, this year, the connection of the major donors of the ruling party to state procurement and business subsidy programs is evident. In many cases, the beneficiaries of the large sums paid by the government to the companies are the donors of “Georgian Dream”. In August-September of this year, the members of the coalition revealed the donation of 2 million GEL in favor of “Georgian Dream” in a suspicious scheme. Dozens of donors have received more than 1.2 billion GEL from state purchases and various state programs during the period of “Georgian Dream” being in power. For example, businessmen operating in Adjara, who are donors to “Georgian Dream”, have received 556 million GEL from state purchases, and at the same time, they have received construction permits for an area of 3,000,000 square meters.
We call on the anti-corruption service to investigate the affairs of the donors of the ruling party.
“Khareba” -s role in the processes related to the elections
On September 30, 2024, the Minister of Internal Affairs of Georgia – Vakhtang Gomelauri issued an order “to implement some measures to ensure that the elections of the Parliament of Georgia on October 26, 2024 are held in a free, safe and peaceful environment.” According to this order, in the regions of Georgia and Tbilisi, “groups responsible for the prevention of law violations and their response” – the so-called Zviad Kharazishvili (“Khareba”), sanctioned by the US Treasury Department for serious violations of human rights, will take part in “territorial groups”. The coalition believes that such a person shall not have any, even indirect contact with the election-related processes.
Use of administrative resources
“Georgian Dream”-s parliamentary candidates from the regions of Georgia regularly use events financed from the central or local budget for campaigning. Such cases were recorded in Aspindza, Khelvachauri, Gardabani, Khulo, and Oni. External advertisements are concerning and against the law
The fact that the monopolist of outdoor advertisements, “Alma Plus”, refused to place the pre-election banner for “Unity – National Movement” is concerning and a violation of the law. It is also a violation of the law for “TV Imedi” to refuse to place pre-election advertisements for the “Strong Georgia” coalition.
Monitoring coalition – “My Vote” continues to register observers. More observers at the polling station mean more protected votes.
