Georgian Central Election Commission: European Commission report confirms allegations against election administration were unfounded

The Central Election Commission (CEC) of Georgia on Wednesday stated that the European Commission’s latest enlargement report confirmed that allegations made against the election administration and the management of the 2024 parliamentary elections were baseless.

The CEC noted that for nearly a year, certain opposition figures and organisations have persistently accused the election administration of misconduct - including claims of vote rigging, multiple voting, and violations of ballot secrecy.

“Since the parliamentary elections, for a year now, several politically biased individuals have been actively attempting to discredit the election administration and, in general, the October 26 elections. For this purpose, they continue to claim that the elections were rigged, that the secrecy of the vote was violated, that there were cases of multiple voting, and so on. It should be noted that throughout the entire year, none of the interested parties who spoke of alleged election fraud - including those who appealed to the Prosecutor’s Office and the courts - have been able to present any evidence”, the statement said.

The CEC said that despite various appeals to the Prosecutor’s Office and the courts, no credible evidence was provided to support these allegations.

“Unlike them, the election administration, relying on facts, evidence, and the results of a compliance audit conducted by an authoritative American organisation, has repeatedly responded to these allegations, providing the public with accurate, verified, and objective information, and confirming multiple times that the elections were held in accordance with the law and international standards. It should also be reminded that the OSCE/ODIHR’s final assessment stated that election day was generally well organised from a procedural perspective and conducted in an orderly manner”, the statement noted.

“The fact that the loud claims by certain local observer organisations and politically biased individuals about election fraud were groundless and aimed solely at discrediting the elections has now been confirmed by the European Commission’s report as well. As the public is aware, the European Commission published its report on EU enlargement, which, among other topics, also touches upon last year’s elections. However, the report does not mention the above allegations regarding the administration of the elections”, the statement continued.

The CEC also cited the final report of the OSCE/ODIHR, which concluded that election day was “generally well organised from a procedural perspective and conducted in an orderly manner”,

“We would now like to ask those who tried to convince the public that - one could vote seven or even a hundred times, that there were duplicate names in the voting lists used by the devices, that the secrecy of the vote was violated, that summary protocols were rewritten, that polling stations abroad were intentionally not created, or that the markers were replaced, and so on - why none of this was reflected in either the European Commission’s or the OSCE/ODIHR’s reports? The answer is clear and obvious: because none of the above corresponded to reality. These were merely attempts to deliberately distort the facts, create false perceptions, undermine trust in the elections, and discredit the election administration”, the statement said.

The Commission interpreted the absence of fraud-related references in the European Commission’s report as further proof that accusations against the election administration were politically motivated and false.

“We also note that such manipulative statements made by politically motivated actors are nothing new - not only in relation to elections but also regarding other issues. This contributes to the spread of misinformation among citizens and the creation of distorted perceptions. The election administration calls on all involved parties to finally acknowledge reality and return to the standard of impartial assessment of election processes. For our part, we remain committed to our declared goal - to ensure that voters in our country are fully and accurately informed about all matters related to the election process”, the CEC concluded.