Ongoing

Donor: Embassy of the United Kingdom in Georgia

Duration: August 1, 2021 – December 31, 2021

Budget: £19,997.70

Project objectives:

The overall goal of the project is to contribute to achieving fully free, fair and transparent conduct of the 2021 Municipal elections in Georgia. More specifically, the project will evolve around two objectives:

· To detect and report the election day violations and irregularities taking place outside the polling stations;

· To conduct methodological analysis of the election day environment, including violations and irregularities.

Project activities:

ISFED will recruit and train 120 observers for monitoring the outside perimeter of polling stations. On the election day, ISFED will dispatch the observers at a representative sample of polling stations. The observers will monitor the entire voting process - from 8am, when polling stations open, to 8pm, when polling stations close. They will observe all election-related developments within 100 meters of the polling station premises, including attempts of voter tracking, pressure/intimidation, physical violence and illegal campaigning. Two types of information will be solicited from the monitors. First, they will be required to fill out the observation forms with pre-assigned questions assessing the overall situation in the vicinity of polling stations, as well as specific aspects of observation. The collected data will be submitted to ISFED’s headquarters three times a day. The entries will then be aggregated and processed in a special software, followed by interpretation by ISFED’s election analytics team. Additionally, if STOs detect incidents, violations and irregularities, they will be required to immediately inform the headquarters office by placing a call; ISFED’s lawyers will then decide whether filing a police complaint is warranted. ISFED will include the observation findings in its election day statements and the final election monitoring report.