CEC Responds to My Vote's Call for Investigation into Alleged Election Fraud
By Liza Mchedlidze
Wednesday, November 6, 2024
The Central Election Commission (CEC) of Georgia has responded to a request from the monitoring group My Vote to initiate an investigation into allegations of official misconduct involving CEC Chairman Giorgi Kalandarishvili, Deputy Chairman Giorgi Sharabidze, and Secretary Giorgi Javakhishvili. My Vote claims that the election administration played "one of the important roles" in a large-scale scheme of election fraud orchestrated by the ruling party.
In its response, the CEC rejected these allegations as "unsubstantiated," stating that some parties involved in the election process, including local monitoring organizations, are making groundless accusations against the commission's leaders. "The campaign to discredit the October 26 elections and the election administration continues," the CEC stated. "These interested parties are attempting to create a false perception of legal violations by the election administration."
The CEC noted that it had proactively requested the prosecutor's office to investigate any possible criminal conduct related to the elections. It emphasized that it has addressed all accusations made since the election, yet certain parties are now focusing on blaming specific individuals within the commission.
The commission criticized the monitoring organizations for limiting their claims to "oral, groundless accusations" and manipulating information. "We call on all parties involved, especially those alleging any wrongdoing, to submit their evidence to the relevant investigative authorities," the CEC stated.
The CEC warned that without evidence, the motives behind these allegations may be questionable, suggesting they could mislead the public and undermine confidence in the electoral process. It further cautioned that baseless accusations might serve political interests aimed at unfairly pressuring election officials.
