Opening and Setting up of Polling Stations
The
International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy (ISFED) is monitoring
the second round of the local self-government elections on July 12, 2014 in 28 electoral
districts around Georgia. ISFED’s observation mission consists of approximately800 accredited and trained observers,
including 32 mobile teams, deployed
to precinct and district election commissions throughout the country, as well
as the central election commission.
For the
second round elections, ISFED deployed observers to:
· a representative, random sample of 350 polling stations in Tbilisi;
· all polling stations in 4 self-governing
cities (Rustavi, Mtskheta, Gori,
Ozurgeti) and 7 local communities (Khoni,
Bagdati, Tkibuli, Terjola, Lanchkhuti, Khulo, Akhmeta)
· the remaining 7 electoral districts (Batumi, Poti, Kobuleti, Telavi, Kvareli,
Martvili, Tianeti), where ISFED will conduct mobile observation.
ISFED’s
Election Day observation for the second round is based on the Parallel Vote Tabulation (PVT) methodology,
which enables us to timely detect violations, systematically evaluate the
Election Day process and verify the accuracy of the official election results. ISFED
has over ten years of experience in implementing the PVT since 2003. The second round of these local
elections are the ninth elections for ISFED to use PVT methodology for
evaluating the Election Day process and projecting the election results.
On July 12, 2014 local elections,
voters will elect 8 mayors and 13 chief
executives (Gamgebelis) in self-governing cities and municipalities where
the candidates failed to secure 50%+1of votes in the first round of the
elections.
At this
point, ISFED has received information about opening of the polling stations
from 99.7% of the PVT observers. In this report we present information about
opening of polling stations and commencement of voting.
Key
Findings
Based on ISFED observers’ reports, the opening process has
improved as compared to the first round of the 2014 local self-government elections.
No significant violations were observed during the opening at the majority of
the polling stations at self-governing cities or municipalities monitored by
ISFED observers. However, a fact of ballot stuffing was observed at precinct
#36, Khulo district. In addition, minor procedural violations were detected at
some polling stations. For details, please see the section on violations below.
All
ISFED observers had the opportunity to monitor the opening processes at all of
their polling stations without obstacles. Almost all polling stations were ready
to receive voters by 8:00am – 99.4% in Tbilisi, 83.3% in Mtskheta, 96.3% in
Khoni, 97.3% in Tkibuli and all polling stations in Gori, Rustavi, Ozurgeti
self-governing cities and Lanchkhuti, Khulo, Akhmeta, Baghdati and Terjola
communities.
Violations
As of
now, ISFED observers have reported the following violations:
· 1 case
of ballot stuffing: at precinct #36, Khulo district, the ISFED
observer witnessed the PEC chairman stuffing 3 ballot papers. While reporting
the violation to the ISFED central office, ISFED observer was verbally attacked
by the PEC chairman, who prevented the observer from continuing the phone
conversation. ISFED will file an official complaint regarding this violation.
· 2 cases
of improper documentation: 1 case of improper filling out of the
control sheet: at precinct #9, Rustavi district. Also, at precinct #18,
Lanchkhuti district, the number of received ballots by the polling station was
not reflected in the public display protocol and the record book after the
number was announced verbally.
· 1 case
of an unauthorized person present at the polling station: 2
representatives of one electoral subject (Davit Tarkhan-Mouravi – Patriots’
Alliance of Georgia) were observed at precinct #3, Lanchkhuti district. After
bringing the fact to the PEC Chairman’s attention, one of the representatives
had to leave the polling station.
· 1 case
of violating the lottery procedure: at precinct #30, Terjola
district, Ketevan Kezeradze – a Free Democrats party appointed commission
member failed to participate in the lottery procedure. She also accompanied the
mobile ballot box, instead of a member that was designated to perform this
function by the lottery among the PEC members. A note reflecting this change of
functions was not reflected in the PEC record book. The PEC chairman
did not react upon this fact, notwithstanding being informed by the observer.
· 1 case
of voting without checking the invisible ink: at precinct #9,
Baghdati district.
As of
now, ISFED observers have filed 3 complaints at the election commissions.
Together
with partner organizations, ISFED posts the results of its monitoring online by
means of elections web portal – www.electionsportal.ge, where
election violations reported by the three non-governmental organizations are
immediately pinpointed on a map. Further, any citizen can send information
about electoral violations by sending a free SMS to the number 90039.
ISFED
observers report information to the data analysis center in Tbilisi via short
text messages (SMSs), phone calls, and tablet PCs. The Data Analysis Center is
comprised of 15 data operators, 15 lawyers, and the staff of the
Central Office. ISFED has built a sophisticated PVT database that processes the
observers’ texts and automatically gives observers feedback based on an
artificial intelligence algorithm. All observer data undergoes several quality
control tests and, once those tests have been passed, the data is analyzed and
incorporated into ISFED’s findings.
ISFED would like to remind voters to have
one of the documents listed below with them to be able to participate in the
elections:
· Georgian
citizen ID card
· Passport
of a citizen of Georgia (the so-called international passport)
· Certificate
of an IDP (together with an ID card).
ISFED
calls upon all eligible voters in Georgia to participate in the elections and
to freely express their will by voting in favor of a candidate of their choice.
ISFED will issue next statement at 15:00.
ISFED election monitoring is made possible
by the generous support of the American people through the United States Agency
for International Development (USAID), the Embassy of Kingdom of Netherlands in
Georgia and the Open Society Georgia Foundation (OSGF). The content of this
statement is the responsibility of ISFED and does not necessarily reflect the
views of USAID or the United States Government, the Embassy of Kingdom of
Netherlands in Georgia or the Open Society Georgia Foundation (OSGF).