Interim Elections with Some Errors

Gela Mtivlishvili, Kakheti

On October 2, Interim Parliamentary Election was held in Telavi. Total 56 898 voters are registered in the election district. According to the preliminary data of the CEC, candidate of the ruling National Movement and former Telavi district governor Vasil Davitashvili gained 84, 33 % (16 790) of votes. The observers detected several shortcomings and errors during the polls.

Interim parliamentary election was appointed in Telavi district because of the death of MP Gia Arsenishvili.

54 polling stations were working in the district. They opened at 7:00 am and the process started at 8:00 am. Three political parties – United National Movement, Industry Will Save Georgia and Christian-Democrat Movement – participated in the election. Former district governor Vasil Davitashvili was candidate from the ruling National Movement; Nikoloz Lashkhi was candidate of the Christian-Democrat Movement who is also head of local organization of the political party; and Vasil Arabuli represented the Industry Will Save Georgia; the latter is member of the Telavi Municipal Board as well. Lashkhi gained 10, 94 % (2 179 votes) of votes and Vasil Arabuli – 4, 72 % (940 votes).

Violation and Oppression on Journalists

Procedural violations and various shortcomings were observed soon after the polling process started.

Representatives of the National Movement campaigned for their candidate at the entrance of the Karajala polling station # 38. In addition, the representatives of the Christian-Democrat Movement alleged that coordinators of the ruling party were mobilized at the polling station and recorded the names of the voters according to special lists. Aleksi Shoshiashvili observed the elections in the precinct as a representative of the Center for the Development of Election Environment; he represented the CEC in Lagodekhi election district during local self-governmental elections on May 30, 2010. CEC representative Giorgi Sekhniashvili and chair of the precinct election commission Elza Ashirova did not allow the correspondent of the Information Center of Kakheti to work properly. CEC representative demanded the journalist to leave the precinct in an aggressive tone; the chair of the commission blamed the journalist in hindering the polling process and requested to draw up protocol against him.

CEC representatives Tamaz Sharmanashvili and Gia Sekhniashvili in Karajala precincts hindered the journalists of the ICK to video-record violations. Several people were entering the polling booths together; and the CEC representatives and commission members got irritated when the journalists video-recorded similar facts. They blamed journalists in breaching the principle of secret ballot and threatened him to be expelled from the precinct if he continued recording.

ICK’s journalists observed that voters were brought by mini-buses of the National Movement, who claimed that they could not see. In the precinct, similar people were assisting them in the ballot booth. More than half of voters in the Karajala precincts # 37, 38 and 39 claimed that they had poor eyesight, had not glasses with them and needed help.

A voter in Gulgula polling setting # 16, who did not say his name, entered the precinct with the election posters of Vasil Davitashvili, candidate of the National Movement. Precinct election commission member, who had to regulate the entrance of the voters, said he could not see the voter with posters to enter the precinct.

Vasil Davitashvili was leading his election campaign on the election day too. “I started improvement of the systems; we have created better conditions for the social layer, development of agriculture, tourism and viticulture. I am going to renovate our town like Tbilisi and Batumi were renovated,” said Vasil Davitashvili on October 2 in his interview with the TV-Company Imedi; the interview was released at 11:00 am. According to the Election Code of Georgia, all election campaign is prohibited on the election day.

Voter Archil Utiashvili voted without being marked in the polling station # 3 in Telavi election district. The commission member clarified that the voter is his cousin and forgot to be marked.

Head of Telavi office of the Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association Marekh Mgaloblishvili said date was not written in the control papers in Tetritsklebi precinct. Chair of the Karajala precinct commission filled in the control paper after the complaint was filed. Mgaloblishvili said the commission chair did not have similar right.

An incident occurred in Pshaveli polling station # 32.  About 60-years old man entered the election district and started scolding government. He protested that the election district was located in the building which belonged to Luka Ramazashvili. Ramazashvili is a former head of the political party Industry will Save Georgia. He was imprisoned in 2006 and was sentenced to 8 years.

One of the leaders of Christian-Democratic Movement Ingra Grigolia submitted complaint to the regional electoral commission. According to Grigolia, at #39 electoral district the member of commission was agitating for National Movement.

At 20:00 pm the electoral districts were closed. According to the Central Electoral Commission, approximately 21 thousand voters participated in the elections.

Monitors – Preliminary Evaluation

6 local and 6 international organizations observed the interim parliamentary elections. International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy conducted monitoring on the process of voting by the help of monitors of 40 district and two mobile groups.

According to Fair Elections, the shortcomings of voting procedures were most often noted in the districts #37, 38, 39 and 54 of the village Karajala where the majority of the voters could not manage to independently vote by the election bulletins printed in Georgian. The voters who went in the election cabins needed help of family members or other voters that directed the voting procedure in unorganized regime. The voters who came to the districts often indicated who to vote for.

At #52 election district an attempt to vote for another voter was noted. This fact was suppressed by the monitors and representatives of political parties.

Like May 30th 2010 elections, the facts of counting voters by the unidentified individuals present at the district were noted today as well.

Like the last elections, the presence of public officials accredited as the representatives of political parties were also observed.

The election district was not arranged in #42 (Tsinandlis Kvemo) election district for people on the wheelchair. The voter with limited capacities had serious problems while exercising right of voting.

On October 3rd the NGO New Generation – New Initiative published the initial evaluation. Organization positively evaluated the elections, however certain shortcomings were noted.

Organization states that the voting procedures went peaceful and the procedural violations were noted only on the small part of election districts.

The most problematic election process was noted in the village Karajala. According to the monitoring, the elections conducted in Karajala did not comply with the international standards. The majority of this village population is ethnical Azeri who do not know state language at all or know it badly. The election bulletins like other kind of documentation and material was printed only in Georgian language that gave rise to big uncertainty in the local population.

The facts of demonstration of bulletins after coming out of the election cabin were noted. The facts of agitation by the commission members were also noted. The facts of voting with expired ID card or without ID card and participation of juveniles in the voting process were observed. In tens of cases, the voters were not included in the lists of voters.

New Generation – New Initiative notes that one of the shortcomings of the election is the fact that the big majority of the elections districts is located on the second floor of the building that restricts the elder people and the ones with limited capacity to participate in the elections.

“The results of monitoring once again persuaded us in the inevitability of developing works in terms of educating voters especially in the districts populated by non-Georgians,” – reads the organization’s statement.

Reaction Regional-Electoral Commission

Telavi regional electoral commission satisfied only one complaint submitted by Georgian Young Lawyers Association (GYLA) out of 4 received complaints. The Commission issues warning against three members of #16 Gulgula electoral commission as a disciplinary responsibility.

“When they dropped the bulletins out of the transportable election box they directly mixed it with the bulletins gotten out of the main election box that is unaccepted. They should have counted it first separately and arranged it. Due to this procedural violation we addressed the regional election commission with a complaint. At first they did not want to receive it but then they took it under the hearing,” – the head of Telavi office of GYLA Marekh Mgaloblishvili noted.

Out of three other complaints two belonged to Christian-Democrats and one – to Fair Elections. Christian-Democrats protested against the instances of agitation at the #30 and 39 election districts and requested cancellation of results of these districts.