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11.00 - Opening and Set Up of Polling Stations

11.00 - Opening and Set Up of Polling Stations

Information on the Observation Mission

The International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy (ISFED) is monitoring the October 30, 2021 Municipal Election runoffs in eight municipalities, including five self-governing cities (Tbilisi, Rustavi, Batumi, Poti and Kutaisi) and 3 self-governing communities (Zugdidi, Ozurgeti and Telavi). ISFED will observe every third polling station in Tbilisi, and every second polling station in the rest of the locations.[i]

ISFED’s election day observation mission consists of 27 mobile groups, 544 observers deployed at polling stations and 29 observers deployed at district electoral commissions. ISFED is also observing the outside perimeter of polling stations with 100 observers.[ii] ISFED operates data and incident processing centers at its headquarters, with 23 operators and 10 lawyers, respectively.

ISFED’s observers are monitoring the election day in its entirety, from the moment of opening of the polling stations, to the end of vote counting process. Information transferred by the observers are processed and published in the form of election day statements. Identified violations are followed up by relevant legal measures.

ISFED will present the election day findings three times during the polling day. The presentations will be convened at 11:00, 16:00, and 22:00. The final press-briefing will be held on October 31.

In this statement, ISFED presents the information about opening of polling stations and commencement of the voting process.

 

Key findings for 11:00am:

According to the information received from ISFED’s observers, opening and set up of polling stations were carried out in line with the legal procedures in almost all stations under observation. However, at some polling stations, ISFED documented violations related to casting of lots and ballot validation procedures, as well as the shortcomings concerning the inking device and the voters lists. Almost all ISFED observers were allowed to access the polling station and were able to observe the processes without restrictions. However, at two polling stations, gross violations of the right to observe were reported, including a case of verbal and physical assault on ISFED’s observer at the polling station #10 in Zugdidi. Outside the polling stations, ISFED’s observers documented the cases of suspicious gatherings of persons, voter mobilization and tracking of voters who had cast their voters. It is worth noting that facts of alleged vote buying were identified at polling stations #45 and #85.

 

Information on the set up of polling stations

ISFED retrieved information on the set up and opening of polling stations from 542 observers. According to the obtained information:

 

  • All ISFED’s observers were allowed to access the polling station without restrictions;
  • At 540 polling stations, observers were allowed to exercise their rights, while their rights were restricted at 2 polling stations;
  • 502 polling stations were ready to receive voters at 8:00am, while 40 polling stations were ready between 08:00-08:20am;
  • At 540 polling stations, functions between election commission members were assigned in accordance with the law, by casting of lots;
  • At all polling stations, ballot boxes were sealed in accordance with the law and the integrity of the packages where the commission seals are placed, was ensured.

 

Violations reported from 8:00-10:00am

As of now, ISFED observers have reported following violations:

Restricting the right of election observers

  • At the polling station #10 of the electoral district #67 (Zugdidi), an unauthorized person was present at the polling station. The person created hostile environment at the polling station and verbally and physically assaulted ISFED’s observer. Despite the commission chairperson’s request, the unauthorized person did not leave the polling station. Later, the person was removed by the police;
  • At the polling station #96 of the electoral district #67 (Zugdidi), ISFED’s observer was verbally assaulted by the precinct election commission member.

Violation of procedures of opening the polling stations and casting of lots

  • The polling station #20 of the electoral district #70 (Poti), the polling station #20 of the electoral district # 75 (Rustavi) and the polling station #50 of the electoral district #50 (Saburtalo) were opened before 07:00am. ISFED’s observers were not allowed to access the polling stations earlier than 07:00am;
  • At the polling station #91 of the electoral district #6 (Samgori), the process of casting lots was violated. In particular, one commission member picked the lot paper twice;
  • At the polling station #100 of the electoral district #79 (Batumi), the process of casting lots was violated – the control paper was filled out and dropped in the ballot box after a voter had already placed their ballot paper in the box. Due to discord over the control paper, the commission members missed the fact that the voter placed the ballot paper in the box without an envelope;
  • At the polling station #71 of the electoral district #5 (Isani), one commission member refused to participate in the procedure of casting of lots. After functions were assigned, the commission member stood next to the queue manager and hindered voters' mobility, leading to chaos at the polling station. The commission member did not obey the commission chairperson’s request, creating a tense environment at the polling station.

Violation of ballot paper validation rule

  • At the polling station #51 of the electoral district #79 (Batumi), one of the registrars handed over the ballot paper to a voter without placing the signature and the seal.

Shortcomings related to the inking

  • At the polling station #96 of the electoral district #67 (Zugdidi), the ink can be removed with the sanitizer spray, creating the risk that voting will proceed with violations of inking procedures;
  • At the polling station #6 of the electoral district #79 (Batumi), ink checking device was broken. It was later substituted with a new one from the district election commission.

Errors related to the voting list

  • At the polling station # 12 of the electoral district #70 (Poti), information about the voters included in the mobile ballot box list, is not included in the table version of the voters’ list;
  • At the polling station # 59 of the electoral district #79 (Batumi), a voter misplaced signature on the voters list. A relevant entry was logged in the record book.

Tracking of voters

  • At the polling station #18 of the electoral district #17 (Telavi), a voter of the “Union Green World” organization, is taking note of voters who had cast their votes, namely their names, last names and ID numbers.

Other shortcomings

  • At the polling station #16 of the electoral district #67 (Zugdidi), the queue manager and registrars were not properly carrying out the voter identification procedures, namely, when checking the ID cards, they were not asking voters to take off their facemasks. Several such cases were reported.

 

Violations/trends observed outside the polling stations (08:00-10:00)

Suspicious gathering of persons (within 100-meter range)

  • At the polling station #87 of the electoral district #3 (Saburtalo), at the polling station #5 of the electoral district #5 (Isani), and at polling station #39 of the electoral district #17 (Telavi) there are suspicious gathering of persons, who are communicating with voters;
  • At the polling station #42 of the electoral district #2 (Vake), there is a suspicious gathering of persons, who are either sitting in a car or standing near the polling stations, and are communicating with voters. One of them told the voters that they knew well whom to vote for;
  • At the polling station #19 of the electoral district #5 (Isani), there is a suspicious gathering of persons;
  • At the polling station #3 of the electoral district #60 (Ozurgeti), there is a suspicious gathering of persons, who were communicating with voters. Upon exiting the polling station, a voter handed an unidentified paper to one of them. The persons are in a car, and reportedly have lists at hand.

Suspicious gathering of persons (beyond 100-meter range)

  • At the polling station #39 of the electoral district #17 (Telavi), there is a gathering of unidentified persons beyond the 100-meter range.

Mobilization of party coordinators

  • At the polling station #45 of the electoral district #79 (Batumi), there are Georgian Dream party coordinators in a car parked near the polling station, who have lists with voters’ names at hand. They are communicating with voters both before and after casting votes;
  • At the polling station #98 of the electoral district #79 (Batumi), there are party coordinators, who are communicating with voters. Their party affiliation is unknown;
  • At the polling station #85 of the electoral district #79 (Batumi), within the 100-meter range, there are Georgian Dream coordinators, who are communicating with voters.

Tracking of voters

  • At the polling station #32 of the electoral district #67 (Zugdidi), there are unidentified individuals in a car parked near the polling station, who are noting of voters who had cast their votes.

Alleged vote buying

  • At the polling station #85 of the electoral district #79 (Batumi), ISFED witnessed a communication related to alleged vote buying. Namely, two persons met a third person, who asked the former whether they had already voted and whether they had received the money that was promised to them;
  • At the polling station #45 of the electoral district #79 (Batumi), a person sitting in a car, reportedly a Georgian Dream representative, handed out money to a voter.

 

Complaints and statements

As of now, ISFED observers have filed 5 complaints at precinct election commissions, 3 complaints at district election commissions and have logged 11 entries in the record book.

 

Election day incidents and alleged violations are posted on the interactive map of the Elections Portal - http://www.electionsportal.ge/. Anyone with information on possible violations can report it by sending a text to this toll-free number 90039, or at the web-portal - http://www.electionsportal.ge/geo/new_incident.

ISFED urges all eligible voters in Georgia to go to the polls and express their free will by voting in favor of a candidate of their choice. ISFED reminds all voters to wear a face mask and adhere to the designated safety procedures when voting, including those registered on the mobile ballot box list.

For further information, follow the organization’s Facebook and Twitter accounts.

ISFED will released the next statement at 16:00 pm.

 

ISFED's monitoring mission is made possible by the support of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the European Union (EU). Monitoring of the outside perimeter of polling stations was made possible by the British embassy in Georgia. The opinions expressed herein belong solely to the International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy and do not necessarily reflect the views of the USAID, the United States Government, the EU, or the UK Government.

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[i] In addition to that, ISFED has dispatched mobile groups to 12 municipalities where mayoral runoffs are taking place.

[ii] ISFED’s observers are covering 57 polling stations in Tbilisi, 9 polling stations in Kutaisi, 8 in Batumi, 8 in Zugdidi, 6 in Rustavi, 5 in Ozurgeti, 4 in Telavi and 3 in Poti.