The Democratic Election in Georgia
OSCE Dieter Bodenhas confirmed the facts of roughest violations and falsifications at the election in Georgia
German diplomat Dieter Boden, head of the OSCE observation mission, has confirmed the facts of roughest violations and falsifications at the election in Georgia, having declared that the Electoral Commission of Georgia is dominated by “chaos”.
Mr Boden has stated, as quoted by the Frankfurter Rundschau, that “the rough violations, negligence and facts of deliberate falsifications at tabulating votes at the election in Georgia,” as reported by the OSCE observers, had indeed taken place.
As he noted, the Electoral Commission itself is disrupted with “chaos”.
We remind you that the “Caucasian Knot” has already reported, with reference to the IA “News-Georgia” that Mr Boden had stated earlier that he found it necessary to study the violations that resulted in the incident on Tuesday, January 8, when Levan Gachechiladze, candidate for President from the United Opposition, and his close supporters from among the leaders of the opposition entered the office of Levan Tarkhnishvili, Chair of the Georgian CEC, and demanded to immediately react to facts of violations.
Dieter Boden has also noted that the information of the Georgian opposition about the violations during the early presidential election in Georgia will not change the already presented conclusion of international observers.
Earlier, the opposition in Georgia, which considers the outcomes of the presidential election on January 5 to be garbled and demands free access to live television, and which has announced the start of a hunger strike, postponed the action by 24 hours.
According to OSCE/ODIHR EOM media monitoring, campaign coverage in the news of most monitored TV stations, including public television, lacked balance, with the ruling party candidate generally receiving the most coverage.
The blurring of the line between the State and a political party, which is not in compliance with paragraph 5.4 of the 1990 OSCE Copenhagen Document, created an unequal campaign environment and was a cause of contention. The distribution of vouchers for such things as utilities and medical supplies to pensioners and other vulnerable groups was criticized as an
alleged use of budgetary funds in support of Mr. Saakashvili’s campaign. UNM officials stated that the voucher distribution was planned before the beginning of the campaign. However, there is evidence that the distribution was used for campaign purposes. Distributors of vouchers sometimes asked recipients whether they would vote for Mr. Saakashvili, and asked them to
sign documents confirming their support.
The inauguration of a new pipeline by Mr. Saakashvili in Akhalkalaki on 24 December, as well as the official opening of the Tbilisi- Senaki-Leselidze highway lighting system, were given the appearance of presidential events, not consistent with Mr. Saakashvili’s ex-President status and as a candidate who did not hold public office at the time.
A number of cases of violence against opposition activists, including kidnapping, were reported by individuals and political parties, and were in some cases verified.
a debate between four main contestants did not take place as Mr. Saakashvili chose not to take part and his three main rivals had conditioned their participation upon their ability to debate with him. This denied voters an opportunity to see these key candidates exchange policy views in an interactive format, and was compounded by the general reluctance of the media to provide critical reporting.
Two nationwide private TV channels, Rustavi 2 and Mze, showed clear support for Mr. Saakashvili and provided him with substantial prime-time news coverage.
The very high cost of paid political advertising on television limited the candidates’ possibilities to campaign in the media. Three of the channels charged approximately ten times more for political advertising than for commercials. Only Mr. Saakashvili was able to place paid spots on all four nationwide channels.
Reports were submitted to various law enforcement and governmental bodies, with allegations of intimidation, threats, and attacks on opposition supporters and their close family members, some implicating law enforcement officials. The police did not appear to sufficiently investigate such complaints, and the Interior Ministry reported that many cases have been closed for lack of evidence. The OSCE/ODIHR EOM is not aware of any criminal prosecutions being initiated in such cases.
The most widespread procedural irregularities were related to inking safeguards, with not all voters being checked for ink in 15 per cent of polling stations visited, and ink not always being applied in 12 per cent. In addition, IEOM observers reported that during their visits to 14 polling stations, voters who had already been inked were allowed to vote. Other violations included
seemingly identical signatures on the voter lists (4 per cent), multiple and proxy voting (1 and 2 per cent, respectively) and group or family voting (5 per cent). In 3 per cent of polling stations, the ballot boxes were not properly sealed. IEOM observers witnessed five cases of ballot box
stuffing, as well as five cases of carousel voting, a vote buying scheme.
In 2 per cent of polling stations, voters were denied the right to vote for inappropriate reasons. In 11 per cent of polling stations visited on election day, observers noted cases of citizens having been turned away because their names were not found on the precinct’s voter list.
Secrecy of the vote was not always ensured, with 6 per cent of IEOM observer reports indicating that not all voters marked their ballots in secrecy. Thirty-four per cent of polling stations visited throughout election day were equipped with video surveillance cameras. IEOM observers noted that in 11 per cent of polling station thus equipped (or 63 polling stations), the
placement of the video cameras was such that it did not ensure the secrecy of the vote.
In polling stations visited by IEOM observers throughout election day, an average of some 5 per cent of those who voted had been added to the additional voter list on election day. In 2 per cent of polling stations visited, voters were added to the additional list without providing proof that they were registered within the territory of the precinct. In 2 per cent of polling stations, voters
were denied the right to vote for inappropriate reasons. In 11 per cent of polling stations visited on election day, observers noted cases of citizens having been turned away because their names were not found on the precinct’s voter list.
The presence of unauthorized persons, mostly police, was observed in 8 per cent of polling stations. In 18 cases, such persons were interfering in or directing the work of the PEC. Domestic non-party observers were present in 94 per cent of polling stations visited, and candidate proxies, in 96 percent. Frequently, the number of proxies per candidate exceeded that stipulated in the UEC. IEOM observers reported that domestic observers were sometimes participating in the election process, thus interfering with the activities of PECs.
The CEC also conducted a voter education campaign through the national media on issues such as voter lists, secrecy of the vote, falsification of IDs and multiple voting. Some ten days before election day, the CEC produced stickers with the text “Where will you be on 5 January?”, with the number “5” in a red circle visually resembling that used on Mr. Saakashvili’s campaign materials. Such stickers were widely distributed among young voters and were in evidence in polling stations on election day.
The vote count was evaluated less positively than the polling process. A significant 23 per cent of counts observed by IEOM observers were assessed as bad or very bad. Adherence to procedures was rated as bad or very bad in 17 per cent of counts observed, and the PECs’ understanding of procedures and their performance were rated negatively in 18 and 17 per cent, respectively, of counts observed. In most polling stations observed, the counting process was very slow. IEOM observers reported that in 8 per cent of counts observed, they had witnessed tampering with voter list entries, election results, or results protocols.
In 21 per cent of counts observed, they reported significant procedural errors or omissions. Some 35 per cent of PECs did not perform various steps of the vote count in the prescribed order.
One out of three PECs had problems completing the results protocol, and 19 per cent of PECs revised figures they had entered into the protocol earlier. Occasionally, protocols were presigned (6 per cent) and completed in pencil rather than ink.
In addition, the CEC and courts tended to stretch the law beyond reasonable interpretation and without regard to its spirit in favour of the ruling party candidate and public officials.
After election day, the election administration and the courts did not fully and adequately consider and investigate a considerable number of complaints regarding irregularities, some of which were of a serious nature.
In adjudication of complaints, the CEC failed to follow important procedures provided by domestic laws and international standards.
CEC lawyers, who presented the cases and legal opinions to the commission, carried out their professional duties in a noticeably biased manner, providing legal opinions which were usually unsound and which favored the ruling party candidate and government officials
On 13th November after the arrest of Okruashvili the thousands of Georgians organized the protest in Tbilisi demanding the new election. The protesters were dispersed with tear gas and water that Saakashvili sent pouring out over the streets. BTW at that time the popularity Saakashvili dropped. The new election in Georgia took place in January 5, and … suddenly Saakashvili won… There were so many filed complaints about the election that OSCE stepped in and confirmed the facts of violations and falsifications.
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