The Court Backs CEC in Cancelling Several Adjara Polls

On April 8, Tbilisi district court rejected an appeal by the Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association(GYLA) against the decision of the Central Election Commission (CEC) to cancel the elections results in two election districts of Adjara Autonomous Republic.

On April 2, the CEC annulled the election results in Khulo and Kobuleti election districts, quoting massive irregularities. The repeat elections in these two election districts were announced for April 18.

Tinatin Khidasheli of GYLA said that April 8 decision of the court was “absolutely illegal”. The Association plans to appeal the ruling in a Supreme Court.

GYLA does not dispute the fact of violations, however argued in its claim that CEC had no right to cancel the results at the district leve. GYLA lawyers say, the Election Code provides for the CEC to cancel the elections at precinct level with well-documented reasons. However only the court can cancel the results at the election district level.