Statements

1. Key Findings

Cases of ballot stuffing were again reported by ISFED at polling station #22 of electoral district #22 (Marneuli). Notable trends include instances of distribution of more than one ballot per voter, violations related to the inking procedure, vote secrecy and the mobile ballot box, as well as restrictions on the rights of observers and their expulsion from polling stations. In several polling stations, instances of the malfunctioning of electoral technologies were recorded.

Near polling stations, within a 100-meter range, unauthorized gatherings continue to be observed, including the mobilization of party coordinators, as well as organized transportation of voters and information collection about them by said coordinators. These activities are primarily carried out by individuals associated with the ruling party, “Georgian Dream”.

 

2. Voter turnout based on parallel vote tabulation by 17:00

According to the results of the parallel vote tabulation, voter turnout across the country as of 17:00 was 50.2% (with a margin of error of +/-0.9%).¹

 

3. Information on external observation of polling stations based on parallel vote tabulation methodology

ISFED received reports on the processes taking place outside of polling stations from 91% of polling stations covered by the PVT. According to the results:

• At 26% of the observed polling stations, suspicious gatherings were recorded within a 100-meter perimeter. At 6% of the polling stations, gatherings were taking place beyond the 100-meter perimeter;
• At 15% of polling stations observed from the outside, tracking of voters took place within a 100-meter perimeter by parties, non-governmental organizations and other actors. At 6% of the polling stations, this took place beyond the 100-meter range;
• At 15% of polling stations, organized and repeated voter mobilization/transportation was observed.

  

4. Violations/incidents reported at polling stations

As of 18:00, ISFED observers documented the following types of violations:

Ballot stuffing

• At polling station #22 of electoral district #22 (Marneuli), a commission member stuffed more than 20 ballots into the box. Additionally, an observer from ISFED was expelled from this polling station. ISFED filed a complaint with the District Election Commission, requesting the annulment of the results at said polling station.

Expulsion of observer from polling station

• At polling stations #9 and #12 of electoral district 67 (Zugdidi), ISFED’s observers were expelled from polling premises. Additionally, the chairperson of polling station #9 verbally insulted the observer.

Cases of repeat voting

• At polling station #28 of electoral district #5 (Isani), a voter cast their vote twice. During the inking check, a commission member responsible for managing voter entry noted that the voter had already been inked. Despite this, the voter was still allowed to cast another vote.

Violations of vote secrecy

• At polling station #15 of electoral district #14 (Dedoplistskaro), a voter was accompanied into the polling booth by another person. After an observer highlighted the issue, commission members stated that the voter needed assistance due to vision problems, which the voter denied;
• At polling station #1 of electoral district #84 (Khulo), an incident occurred where a commission member turned over a voter’s ballot after the voter had exited the booth and placed it in the envelope in a manner that compromised the secrecy of the vote;
• At polling station #5 of electoral district #79 (Batumi), four incidents were recorded where two people entered the polling booth together and indicated to each other which party to vote for; a similar incident took place at polling station #7 of electoral district #14 (Dedoplistkaro), two people entered the polling booth and filled out the ballot together;
• At polling station #8 of electoral district #12 (Gurjaani), vote secrecy was violated several times while ballots were being placed into the counting machine. After this was highlighted by ISFED’s observer, this violation was resolved;
• At polling station #54 of electoral district #67 (Zugdidi), an incident was recorded where the polling booths were positioned so close to the registrar's desk that an observer standing behind the registrar could see which circles were marked by the voter on the ballot.
• At polling station #31 of electoral district #30 (Kaspi), the commission chairman positioned himself behind the voting booths in a way that allowed him to see which party the voter had voted for. Also, he indicated to voters how to correctly mark their ballots, thus violating the principle of secrecy.

Distribution of more than one ballot

• Cases where voters were issued with more than one ballot were recorded at polling station #14 of electoral district #81 (Kobuleti); at polling station #1 of electoral district #84 (Khulo); at polling stations #17 and #51 of electoral district #5 (Isani), at polling station #64 of electoral district #6 (Samgori) and polling station #6 of electoral district #17 (Telavi).

 

Violations related to the mobile ballot box

• At polling station #13 of electoral district #63 (Abasha), 26 voters cast ballots using the mobile ballot box without any of them signing the voter list. Similar instances were recorded at polling station #84 of electoral district #32 (Gori) and at polling stations #4 and #23 of electoral district #82 (Shuakhevi);
• At polling station #15 of electoral district #79 (Batumi), an incident occurred where 7 voters cast ballots instead of the 6 registered on the mobile ballot box list.

Voting with incorrect identification documents

• At polling station #24 of electoral district #7 (Chugureti), a voter was allowed to vote using an expired and non-electronic identification card of a Georgian citizen issued in 1995.

Violations of the inking procedure

• At polling station #57 of electoral district #79 (Batumi) and polling station #9 of electoral district #36 (Borjomi), voters entered without undergoing inking checks;
• At polling station #1 of electoral district #84 (Khulo), the commission member responsible for managing entry improperly checked voters for inking;
• At polling station #54 of electoral district #2 (Vake), a commission member failed to ink a voter. After this was highlighted by an ISFED observer, it was resolved.

Issues related to the use of electoral technologies

• At polling station #44 of electoral district #5 (Isani), the vote counting device malfunctioned, causing confusion and long queues of voters;
• At polling station #56 of electoral district #2 (Vake), the verification device experienced a technical malfunction. This issue was logged in the record book;
• At polling station #14 of electoral district #2 (Vake), the verification and vote counting devices were periodically malfunctioning, leading to delays in the voting process.

Violations of other voting procedures

• At polling station #15 of electoral district #64 (Senaki), a voter took the ballot from the registrar and placed it in the vote counting machine without casting their vote. In accordance with his request, the registrar issued a new ballot;
• At polling station #71 of electoral district #59 (Kutaisi), a ballot was damaged (the voter mistakenly colored another circle). The chairman did not provide a new ballot and the voter placed the same ballot in the vote counting machine;
• At polling station #27 of electoral district #1 (Mtatsminda), the registrar handed a voter a ballot which already had the respective circle for “Georgian Dream” colored in.

Unauthorized person at a polling station

At polling station #23 of electoral district #7 (Chugureti), an unauthorized individual was present and registered voters as they arrived at the polling station, passing the information to another person by phone. After this was highlighted by an ISFED observer, the violation was addressed, and the unauthorized individual left the polling station. A note was logged in the record book.

 

5. Complaints and statements

As of 18:00, ISFED’s observers have filed 76 complaints at PECs, 31 complaints at DECs and logged 61 entries in the record book. One of the PEC complaints (Thessaloniki) was transferred to the Central Election Commission.

 

6. Information about the observation mission

The International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy (ISFED) is monitoring the October 26, 2024 parliamentary election in all electoral districts across Georgia (excluding the occupied territories).

ISFED’s election observation mission consists of around 1,000 observers deployed inside of polling stations, 235 observers deployed outside of polling stations and 45 observers at polling stations abroad, as well as 73 observers deployed at District Election Commissions (DECs) and 85 mobile groups. ISFED operates data and incident analysis and processing centers at its headquarters, with 32 operators and 23 lawyers.

ISFED’s observation of the parliamentary election is based on the Parallel Vote Tabulation (PVT) methodology, where PVT observers are deployed to a randomly selected, nationally representative sample of polling stations. The outside observation of the polling stations draws on an identical methodology.

 

 ISFED’s next statement will be released at 18:00.

 

 

 

 

ISFED's monitoring mission is made possible by the support of the European Union, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the Government of the United Kingdom, the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA) and the National Endowment for Democracy (NED). The opinions expressed herein belong solely to ISFED and do not necessarily reflect the views of the EU, USAID, UK, SIDA and NED.

 

 

¹ This is based on reports from 95% of observers in ISFED’s PVT sample of polling stations in Georgia.