“In compliance with international and European standards”: Spanish Senator lauds Georgia’s local elections as free, fair, transparent

Luis Jesús Uribe-Etxebarria Apalategui, a member of the Spanish Senate, who monitored Georgia’s local elections, on Sunday praised the voting process as free, fair, competitive, and transparent, aligning with international and European democratic standards, and highlighted the peaceful and well-organised process.

In his remarks, Uribe-Etxebarria Apalategui noted the calm and efficient conduct of the municipal elections, emphasising the secure technological systems and smooth operations at polling stations.

“As an international observer, I was also in Georgia last October to monitor the parliamentary elections. The parliamentary elections were conducted fairly, in accordance with international democratic standards, just like yesterday’s local elections. Yesterday’s municipal elections took place in a normal environment, and citizens had the opportunity to freely exercise their democratic rights and elect representatives for their municipalities”, he said.

The Spanish Senator highlighted the advanced technological systems used by the election commission and the smooth functioning of the 12 polling stations he visited, concluding that the elections met global democratic benchmarks for fairness and transparency.

“On Friday, we met with representatives of the election commission. They explained the election mechanism to us in detail. It is a secure technological system that only a few countries have and use. Yesterday, I visited 12 polling stations. It was a peaceful and well-organised day, which ensured citizens’ democratic participation in the elections. The polling stations opened normally, and the voting procedure proceeded smoothly”, he continued.

Uribe-Etxebarria Apalategui affirmed that the October 4 municipal elections were conducted in a peaceful and orderly manner, allowing Georgian citizens to freely exercise their voting rights.

“In conclusion, I would say that yesterday’s local elections were conducted in free, fair, competitive, and transparent conditions, as is the case in most democratic countries around the world, in compliance with international and European standards”, he concluded.