Georgian Central Election Commission Chair: no evidence supports claims of rigging 2024 elections

Giorgi Kalandarishvili, the Chair of the Georgian Central Election Commission, on Tuesday rejected ongoing allegations that the 2024 parliamentary elections were rigged, calling them a deliberate campaign to undermine public trust.

In his interview with Imedi TV, Kalandarishvili noted that efforts to sustain the narrative of electoral manipulation continue, aimed at eroding confidence in the election results and the CEC’s credibility.

“There is still an attempt to maintain the momentum that the elections were supposedly rigged and to strengthen narratives around this issue. All of this may serve only one purpose: to discredit the electoral process, to keep question marks over the results, and to discredit the election administration, which in turn leads to a certain level of public distrust”, he said.

He stressed that the Central Election Commission countered these accusations with transparent operations and verified information, ensuring the public receives accurate updates.

“Through our transparent and open activities, we are doing everything to ensure that the public constantly has verified and objective information - both regarding unfounded accusations and other election-related matters”, he continued.

The Election Commission Chair highlighted that despite a year of allegations, no concrete evidence emerged in court hearings or the ongoing prosecutorial investigation.

“We clearly saw that the allegations we heard for a year were not based on any evidence. We saw that during court hearings, no facts or evidence were presented. We also saw within the scope of the prosecutor's investigation - from the prosecutor's interim report, the public clearly saw that no evidence or facts were presented to support what lay behind these accusations”, the Chair said.

“The main message recorded in the OSCE/ODIHR document is that the elections were well-administered from a procedural standpoint. This is the main response to all the allegations”, Kalandarishvili concluded.