Statements

On August 16, 2024, the Central Election Commission of Georgia (CEC) adopted a decree changing the timelines for casting lots to distribute functions among Precinct Election Commission (PEC) members. According to this decree, the casting of lots will be held for all PECs in advance, no later than 7 days before the voting (election) day. The CEC explains that this change is necessitated by the need to conduct the electoral process in an organized manner to prevent inconsistencies that might arise from implementing lot procedures at different times.

The International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy (ISFED) believes that this decree contradicts Georgia's electoral legislation and may potentially threaten the independence and impartiality of election commission members at the lower level of the election administration.

The CEC adopted this decree based on Article 14, Paragraph 1, Subparagraph "c" of the Election Code, which stipulates that in exceptional cases, if it becomes impossible to fulfill certain requirements or meet deadlines established by the Election Code, the CEC is authorized to determine by decree the electoral activities and timelines for the elections/voting to be held.

According to Article 61 of the Election Code, the distribution of functions among PEC members by lot takes place on the voting day. Consequently, it is not a procedure that would be impossible to conduct on election day. For years, this procedure has been carried out on election day, including at polling stations where electronic technologies were used, and it is not associated with any exceptional or impossible measure.

Under existing regulations, only one lot for distributing a single function would be cast before the voting day, which is provided for by Articles 5 and 7 of the CEC decree "On Defining Rules and Conditions for Polling through Electronic Devices." According to this decree, in precincts where voting will be conducted using electronic technologies, the selection of PEC members to carry the mobile ballot box should be made no later than 7 days before the voting day.

Determining the functions of PEC members on voting day serves a specific legitimate purpose. It reduces the risk of potential pressure and influence on commission members. Specifically, commission members may be more vulnerable when their particular functions are known several days before the election. Moreover, if all functions are known in advance, the individual responsibility and work motivation of those commission members who are not assigned any function may significantly decrease.

Furthermore, casting lots before the voting day will significantly complicate the observation of this process. When lots are cast on election day, observers registered by monitoring organizations can observe all electoral procedures, including lots, in a single day. However, if this process does not take place on voting day, monitoring organizations will have to mobilize observers separately for this procedure, which will be impossible for most organizations due to limited resources.

ISFED calls on the CEC to bring the aforementioned decree into compliance with the law and for PECs to cast lots for distributing members' functions on voting day.