Opening and Setting Up of Polling Stations
The International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy (ISFED) is monitoring the October 21, 2017 local self-government elections in all electoral districts across Georgia. ISFED Observation Mission consists of 1050 observers deployed at precinct, 73 observers at district electoral commissions and 80 mobile groups. Parallel Vote Tabulation (PVT) Data Analysis and Incident Centers are working in the central office staffed with 18 operators and 13 lawyers. ISFED’s observation of the local self-government elections is based on the Parallel Vote Tabulation (PVT) methodology, which enables us to timely detect violations, systematically evaluate the entire Election Day process and verify the accuracy of the official election results.
For the October 21, 2017 local self-government elections ISFED has deployed PVT observers to:
• A nationally representative, random sample of 300 polling stations throughout Georgia to assess the quality of the election day process;
• A representative, random sample of 350 polling stations in Tbilisi to evaluate the quality of the process and to verify results for the Mayoral and City Council races;
• All polling stations in self-governing cities of Kutaisi, Rustavi, Batumi and Poti and municipalities of Akhaltsikhe and Marneuli to evaluate the quality of the process and to verify results for the Mayoral and City Council races.
In this statement, ISFED presents information about opening of polling stations and commencement of voting.
Key Findings
Based on the information provided by ISFED observers, the opening and setting up process at the majority of polling stations took place without substantial violations. Almost all ISFED observers had the opportunity to access and monitor their polling stations.
The opening process has also gone mostly well in the self-governing cities. None of them differ significantly from the national trend described above.
As of now, ISFED observers have filed 22 complaints at the election commissions and 20 entries were made in the record book.
Detailed Information from the PVT
ISFED has received reports on the opening of polling stations from 99.7% of the PVT observers covering the national sample.
In 99.7% of the polling stations in Georgia, the ISFED observer was free to observe the opening process. This is similar to the data from ISFED’s PVTs for the 2014 local self-government and 2016 parliamentary elections.
99.3% of the polling stations in Georgia were ready to receive voters by 8:00am.
At 99.7% of polling stations nationwide, the functions between election commission members were assigned by casting of lots.
Based on reports of ISFED observers, violations in the process of opening and setting up of polling stations were found at 2.7% of polling stations.
For details, please see the section of violations below.
Violations
As of now, ISFED observers have reported following violations:
Violations identified during opening the polling stations
Restricting the rights of election observer:
• At the polling station #26 of the district election commission #79 (Batumi), the ISFED observer was not initially allowed to enter the polling station, therefore, the observer could not observe the casting of lots.
• At the polling station #36 of the district election commission #2 (Vake), a complaint filed by the ISFED observer was not registered by the commission.
• At the polling station #53 of the district election commission #2 (Vake), the ISFED observer was not initially allowed to enter the polling station.
• At the polling station #65 of the district election commission #67 (Zugdidi), the mobile phone of the ISFED observer was taken away by the Chairperson of PEC. Later the phone was returned to the observer.
• At the polling station #14 of the election district #1, the ISFED observer was not allowed to make an entry in the record book which is a violation of the procedures.
Procedural violation of casting lots
• At the polling station #8 of the election district #10 (Gldani), PEC functions were improperly assigned because they were not done by a casting of lots between the members of the commission.
• At the polling station #36 of the election district #2 (Vake), the secrecy of the process of casting lots was violated.
• At the polling station #27 of the election district #30 (Kaspi), the process of casting of lots took place twice.
• At the polling station #4 of the election district #20 (Rustavi), a member of the commission refused to participate in casting of lots.
• At the polling station #61 of the election district #79 (Batumi), a member of the commission did not participate in casting of lots.
Inaccurate filling in of the ballot box control sheet
• At the polling station #86 of the district election commission #79 (Batumi), the ballot box control sheet was incorrectly signed by the members of the commission.
• At the polling station #64 of the district election commission #59 (Kutaisi), the time was not properly indicated on the control sheet.
• At the polling station #49 of the election district #5 (Isani), the voter whose name and signature was entered in the sheet was actually registered at a different station. (According to procedures, the name of the first voter in a station is to be put on the control sheet and the voter signs it before it goes into the ballot box.)
• At the polling station #64 of the election district #59 (Kutaisi), the time was not properly indicated on the control sheet. As a result, the ballot box was opened, the control sheet was modified and placed back in the ballot box.
• At the polling station #3 of the election district #4 (Krtsanisi), the control sheet was missing a signature from the first voter.
• At the polling station #9 of the election district #7 (Chughureti), time of placing in the ballot box was not indicated on the control sheet.
• At the polling station #3 of the election district #2 (Vake), the first envelope was placed in the ballot box by an unauthorized person.
• At the polling station #27 of the election district #30 (Kaspi), the control sheet was placed in the ballot box before the first voter arrived. As a consequence, the control sheet was later taken out of the ballot box.
Violations identified during the voting process
Violation of voting procedure
• At the polling station #47 of the election district #82 (Kobuleti), the commission member was not properly checking voter documentation.
Violation of inking procedure
• At the polling station #45 of the election district #79 (Batumi), first voter was not properly checked for ink prior to voting.
• At the polling station #68 of the election district #2, voters were not properly checked to see if they had already been inked before proceeding to vote.
Violation of inking rule
• At the polling station #42 of the district election commission #7 (Chughureti), a voter who was not registered at that station was inked, which resulted in restriction of their right to vote.
Improper placing of the ballot in the ballot box
• At the polling station #6 of the election district #1, the voter placed one ballot paper in the box without putting it in the envelope.
Inadequate handling of electoral documentation
• At the polling station #60 of the election district #2 (Vake), the registrar was stamping and signing the ballot papers in advance.
• At the polling station #60 of the election district #59 (Kutaisi) the registrar was stamping and signing the large amount of ballot papers in advance.
• At the polling station #16 of the election district #9 (Nadzaladevi), four ballot papers were given to the voter by the registrar.
• At the polling station #31 of the election district #79 (Batumi), the voter left the voting cabin with ballot papers already placed in the envelope.
ISFED allows you to follow the election process online, by going to the elections web-portal – www.electionsportal.ge, where election violations are posted on the elections map. In addition, anyone can report violation of the electoral process by sending a text to a toll-free number 90039.
ISFED reminds voters that in order to vote they should have with them: Georgian citizen ID card or a Passport.
ISFED calls upon 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 will release its next statement at 15:00
ISFED Observation Mission is made possible with the generous support from the American people, by financial support from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). The Election Day mission is also supported by the Federal Foreign Office of Germany and the National Endowment for Democracy (NED). The views expressed in this statement belong solely to the International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy and may not necessarily reflect the views of USAID, the United States Government, the Federal Republic of Germany, or NED.