IRI publishes technical election assessment mission interim report
Tuesday, November 17
The International Republican Institute technical election assessment mission published an interim report yesterday, which includes the analysis of 31 October parliamentary elections and recommendations for the second rounds of 21 November.
“Conducted elections in Georgia did not satisfy the constitutional and electoral changes imposed by the new standards and reduced the trust of election administration. It's of vital importance for the government to be able to improve the credibility and transparency of the future elections in the upcoming round and correct the flows that were observed on 31 October,” said Stephen Knicks, Director of Eurasia at the International Republican Institute.
Even though the 31 October elections were held in a more or less peaceful environment, following the legislation, the pre-election period and election day revealed violations, negatively impacting the reliability of the full process. The notable violations that were recorded by observers were the use of administrative resources, vote-bribing, pressuring voters and observers, the figure manipulations and results management processes in summary protocols of district election commissions, which lacked transparency to meet international standards.
Given the second tour scheduled on 21 November and background of ongoing negotiations among nine parliamentary opposition parties, the report of the mission offers the government, political parties, civil society, and the media to improve trustworthiness for the next election based on the developed recommendations.