Election Day Final PVT Results
The International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy (ISFED) was monitoring the October 28, 2018 Presidential Elections in all electoral districts across Georgia. ISFED Observation Mission consists of 800 short-term-observers deployed at precincts, 73 observers deployed at district electoral commissions and 78 mobile groups. PVT and Incident Centers operated in the central office staffed with 15 operators and 10 lawyers. ISFED thanks every observer involved in the Observation Mission.
ISFED’s observation of the Presidential Elections was based on the Parallel Vote Tabulation (PVT) methodology, which enabled us to timely detect violations, systematically evaluate the entire Election Day process and verify the accuracy of the official election results.
Key Conclusions
Based on the ISFED PVT data, we can conclude that the tabulation of votes was mostly conducted in compliance with election procedures. Similarly to the voting process, number of violations were reported during counting of votes, such as: improper filling of summary protocols, restriction of the rights of observers, number of issued ballot papers not matching number of signatures in the voters list, violation of sealing procedure of election materials. In some precincts ballots that indicated voter’s choices have been improperly invalidated.
ISFED observers have filed 73 complaints with Precinct Electoral Commissions (PECs) and 82 complaints with District Electoral Commissions (DECs).
PVT findings
Based on PVT reports from ISFED observers, voter turnout was 46.6% (with margin of error +/- 0.8%), which is similar to the 2013 Presidential Elections when final turnout was 47.0%.
Presence of unauthorized persons was reported in the 0.6% of the polling stations.
Election Day Results
Based on the information received about the Election Day process, ISFED is confident in its PVT results. ISFED received information from 99.0% of its observers.
We present the top seven candidates based on information received from 99.0% of polling stations using the established PVT (random sampling of polling stations).
| Candidate | PVT Result | Margin of Error | Lowes Possible Result | Highest Possible Result |
| #5 Grigol Vashadze | 38.5% | 1.0% | 37.5% | 39.5% |
| #48 Salome Zurabishvili | 37.6% | 0.9% | 36.7% | 38.5% |
| #2 David Bakradze | 11.0% | 0.5% | 10.5% | 11.5% |
| #10 Shalva Natelashvili | 3.8% | 0.2% | 3.6% | 4.0% |
| #25 David Usupashvili | 2.3% | 0.2% | 2.1% | 2.5% |
| #36 Zurab Japaridze | 2.2% | 0.2% | 2.0% | 2.4% |
| #21 Kakha Kukava | 1.3% | 0.1% | 1.2% | 1.4% |
PVT results for every other candidates is less than 1%.
Based on PVT results, ISFED is confident that none of the candidates cleared the 50%+1 threshold in the Presidential Elections of 28 of October. Therefore, the winner of the Presidential Elections will be revealed in the second round of elections, which will be held between Grigol Vashadze and Salome Zurabichvili.
It is noteworthy that percentage of votes received by Grigol Vashadze varies between 37.5% and 39.5%, while percentage of votes received by Salome Zurabichvili is between 36.7% and 38.5%. Statistically, it is equally likely for a candidate’s result to be at any point within these intervals. As the two intervals overlap, ISFED cannot definitively say which of the two candidates is ahead.
According to ISFED, the percentage of invalid ballots for the country is 3.2% with a margin of error of 0.2%, which is higher than to the 2013 Presidential Elections when it was 1.8%.
Violations observed by ISFED at the time of the statement
ISFED’s observers reported following violations:
Restriction of the rights of observer
• At the polling station #36 of the election district #66 (Zugdidi), observer was not allowed by the Secretary to make the remark in the logbook.
• At the DEC #49 (Terjola), quarrelling and shouting was heard from the room of the Chair of the Commission, where members of the Commission had convened. ISFED observer was not able to observe the incident and to find out what was happening, as he was not allowed to enter the room and the whole process was not transparent. Number of issued ballot papers exceeding number of signatures in the voters list.
• At the polling station #21 of the election district #9 (Nadzaladevi), at the polling station #29 of the election district #80 (Keda), at the polling station #8 of the election district #7 (Chughureti) and at the polling station #3 of the election district #37 (Akhaltsikhe), number of issued ballot papers was exceeding the number of signatures in the voters list by one.
• At the abroad polling station #13 (Berlin) number of issued ballot papers exceeded number of signatures in the voters list by one. Violation of sealing procedure of election materials • At the polling station #25 of the election district #4 (Ktrsanisi) unused and damaged ballot papers were sealed together.
• At the polling station #10 of the election district #2 (Vake) unused ballot papers were sealed without cutting off their corners in prior. Procedural violations related to ballot papers • At the polling station #34 of the election district #37 (Akhaltsikhe) two ballot papers on which voters will was evident were deemed as invalid.
• At the polling station #48 of the election district #6 (Samgori) up to 30 ballot papers on which voters will was evident were deemed as invalid.
• At the polling station #15 of the election district #20 (Rustavi), 3 ballot papers on which voters will was evident were deemed as invalid.
• At the polling station #30 of the election district #12 (Gurjaani), 12 ballot papers were not validated by the signature of registrars. Violations related to signatures in voters list • At the polling station #43 of the #2 (Vake) voter was allowed to sign the voters list instead of a relative.
Improper filling of summary protocol
• At the polling station #32 of the election district #49 (Terjola) according to the summary protocol, number of signatures is 477 and number of the issued ballot papers is 475. However, according to the explanatory note of the registrar, s/he issued one additional ballot paper to the voter. The explanatory note and voting results are contradictory to each other.
• At the polling station #25 of the election district #37 (Akhatsikhe) summary protocol was not validated with a stamp.
• At the polling station #40 of the election district #35 (Khashuri) summary protocol was not validated with a stamp and date of its drawing is missing.
• At the polling station #16 of the election district #59 (Kutaisi) data is incorrectly submitted in the summary protocol. Specifically, number of invalid ballot papers (27) is indicated in the result field of one of the candidates, Temur Shashiashvili, whose results of counting of votes (35) is indicated in the field of another candidate.
Inadequate handling of electoral documentation
• At the polling stations #5, #14, #36, #45 and #46 of the election district #8 (Didube) control sheets were missing signature of the Commission Chairperson. Incident was only revealed after election material was handed over to the DEC.
• At the polling station #4 of the election district #8 (Didube) PEC log of registration was missing from election materials handed over to the DEC.
Cases of verbal confrontation
• Since at the DEC #8 (Didube) election materials were brought improperly sealed and/or some documents were missing, verbal confrontation ensued between representatives of the United National Movement and the members of the Commission. Allegedly, representatives/activists of the Georgian Dream also got involved in the confrontation. As a result, police was called at the DEC.
• At the DEC #40 (Akhaltsikhe) case of verbal confrontation was reported between representatives of the United National Movement and the Chairperson. As a result, police was called at the DEC.
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.