Counting Underway on Georgia’s MP By-Elections

CEC Chairman Gia Kavtaradze says the elections were well-organized. But local opposition, observers filed complaints over voter lists.

The counting of votes, cast in October 1 MP by-elections, started after polling stations closed in five single-mandate constituencies at 8 pm local time on Saturday. The Central Election Commission (CEC) is expected to announce early results of the polls at 2 pm local time on October 2.

The election process was marked with accusations voiced by the opposition parties, claiming that the authorities rigged the ballot through manipulating voter lists. While local election watchdog organizations reported no “serious” violations, they did note persisting problems in the voter lists.

“There were no incidents. Vote counting is underway and this process will be transparent, like it was during the entire ballot process. Not a single complaint has been filed to the CEC so far. But we have learned from the media sources that there were some problems regarding the voter lists. If there will be some appeals we will discuss each of them very thoroughly and react,” Gia Kavtaradze, the CEC Chairman, said after the polling stations were closed.

By-elections were held in the Adjarian towns of Kobuleti, Batumi and Shuakhevi; the western Georgian town of Tkibuli and Tbilisi’s Isani district to fill five vacant seats in the Parliament. There are a total of 165,404 eligible voters registered in these five constituencies, according to the CEC.

Major competitors of the ruling National Movement party’s MP nominations are four opposition parties – New Rights, Conservatives, Freedom and Labor Party – which banded together and chose single candidates for each of the constituencies through primary elections.
 
According to the CEC, by 5 pm local time the highest voter turnout was in the Tkibuli constituency as 56% of Tkibuli’s total of 18,000 voters cast ballots; in the Shuakhevi constituency, Adjara Autonomous Republic – 52%; Kobuleti constituency in Ajdara – 38%; Tbilisi’s Isani constituency – 22%. The lowest voter turnout was reported in the Batumi constituency in Ajdara – 21%.

But the validity of these polls did not depend on voter turnout. Last year’s amendments to the Election Code dropped the provision requiring at least 1/3 voter turnout to make MP by-elections valid. As a result, a candidate with 1/3 of total votes cast during the polls will be the winner despite voter turnout.

Voter Lists

Voters were marked at the precincts to avoid double-voting.

Problems with the voter lists were a major source of criticism of the opposition parties. There have been reports that a number of voters could not find their names in the lists, hence failed to cast their vote.

“At least 9% of voters were deprived of right to cast a ballot, as they were not on the voter lists in the Isani constituency,” MP Davit Gamkrelidze, the leader of the New Rights party said at a news conference on October 1. Four opposition parties – New Rights, Conservatives, Freedom and Labor Party – nominated Giorgi Mosidze of the New Rights to run in this constituency after the latter won the primaries.

Georgian election watchdog organizations International Society for Free Elections and Democracy (ISFED) and the New Generation–New Initiative also confirmed that problems persisted regarding voter lists, which prevented some voters from casting ballots.

In its TV public campaign, run prior to these elections, the CEC called on voters to check themselves in the voter lists, warning that the law prohibits registration on election day.

However, Georgian televisions broadcasted on October 1 interviews with several voters, who claimed that although they underwent pre-election registration, their names were not found in the voter lists.

“Even those voters who have undergone registration before the elections were simply erased from the voter lists and now they can not cast a ballot,” MP Koba Davitashvili, the leader of the opposition Conservative Party, said.

These allegations triggered ruling National Movement party officials to convene a press conference at noon.

MP Giga Bokeria, who is one of the key figures in the party, said that a voter, who has not participated in the previous elections held in Georgia and did not undergo pre-election registration “can not be on the voter list and this is not a violation.”

“It should be considered a violation if a voter, who participated in previous elections and underwent registration, has not found himself on the list. As far as we know, only very few such cases have been reported so far,” he added.

Chairman of the CEC Gia Kavtaradze also said that absence from the voter lists should not be regarded as a violation.

Gogi Ionatamashvili of the election watchdog New Generation-New Alternative said that there were “some violations” in respect to the voter lists. “But I can not say that this violation was a kind of tendency,” he told Civil Georgia.

Tamar Zhvania of another election watchdog International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy says that there have been two types of problems in respect to the voter lists.

“The first one involves the fact itself that a voter comes to a polling stations and can not find himself/herself on the lists, and were deprived of right to vote as a result. And the second: some irregularities were found in the lists of already registered voters. For example a voter was incorrectly put on the list of another precinct. Also there were cases when one voter was registered in two precincts simultaneously,” Tamar Zhvania told Civil Georgia.

Campaigning on Election Day

Campaigning in support of its candidate by the National Movement has also triggered controversy on election day. MP Davit Kirkitadze of the ruling party said on October 1 that the National Movement hired minivans and buses and dispatched them to the Tbilisi’s Isani constituency helping supporters go to the polling stations.

Several minivans with posters of Bidzina Bregadze, the National Movement’s MP nomination in Isani, were moving across this constituency on the election day. 

Giga Bokeria said at a news conference on October 1 that this fact can not be regarded as a violation of the election code, because the law prohibits political parties from carrying out campaigning only through media sources on the election day.

“This kind of activity [dispatching minivans to transport voters] is not a violation and it can be done by any political party, including the National Movement,” MP Bokeria said.

Tamar Zhvania of the ISFED confirmed that the Election Code prohibits campaigning only through the media sources on the election day.

“Unfortunately, according to the law, campaigning on election day, if it is not done through the media, is not regarded as a violation. This and other gaps in the law show us that the Election Code needs to be amended,” Tamar Zhvania told Civil Georgia.