Day: November 4, 2024
Londa Toloraia, representative of and spokesperson for the My Vote observer mission, said on November 4 that she had been summoned by the Prosecutor’s Office in connection with the investigation into alleged electoral fraud.
Toloraia said she agreed to be questioned only in court and refused to go to the Prosecutor’s Office, which she said was “totally inactive” and “did not fulfill its preventive, investigative or supervisory role during the electoral period”.
“If the information I provided is really important to this agency (…) I will go to court, where at least one more person will hear how inactive the Prosecutor’s Office was during the entire period,” Toloraia said in a Facebook post
Toloraia stated that from the pre-election period to the present, My Vote has repeatedly requested that the Prosecutor’s Office and investigative bodies respond to a series of allegations, including cases of pressure on voters through the confiscation of identity cards, illegal collection and use of personal data, violations of voter secrecy, and cases of electoral fraud. In addition, My Vote has called for an investigation into “official crimes” committed by representatives of the Central Election Commission (CEC).
However, Toloraia said that prior to the CEC’s request to the Prosecutor’s Office to open an investigation, no formal proceedings or public announcement had been made regarding the numerous violations that occurred during Georgia’s 2024 parliamentary elections.
“If the prosecutor’s office and investigative agencies had acted during the pre-election period, we wouldn’t be facing this reality,” Toloraia said.
Earlier on the same day, Toloraia accused CEC of involvement in fraud schemes.
On October 30, at the request of the Central Election Commission, the Prosecutor’s Office opened an investigation into alleged electoral fraud and summoned President Salome Zurabishvili for questioning. President Zurabishvili suggested she wouldn’t comply with the summon. Natia Mezvrishvili, Deputy Chair of the party Gakharia for Georgia, also reported that she had been summoned to the Prosecutor General’s Office as part of the investigation into allegations of fraudulent elections because of her statements that she had evidence of fraud. Mezvrishvili said that if the investigation of these “real cases of fraud” that the party presented begins, then they will go to the Prosecutor’s Office and present all the evidence they have.
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Georgian court dismisses election violations
The chair of the Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association (GYLA), Nona Kurdovanidze, reported that the Tbilisi City Court had dismissed their lawsuit concerning a violation of the right to ballot secrecy in the parliamentary elections on October 26. GYLA had previously expressed concerns about the new rules set by the Central Election Commission (CEC), which, in the organization’s view, could undermine election transparency and increase the risk of pressure on election commission members.
The same concerns were voiced by the director of the International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy (ISFED), Nino Dolidze.
“Today, eight cases concerning election violations were reviewed in Tbilisi’s city and district courts. None of them were upheld,” Dolidze said.
According to official data, the ruling party, Georgian Dream, won the parliamentary elections on October 26, securing nearly 54% of the votes—12% higher than the exit poll results. Observers and experts report thousands of violations and fraud throughout the voting process.
The international community does not recognize the election results and questions their legitimacy. According to the EU Ambassador to Georgia, Pawel Herczynski, EU leaders have halted the country’s EU accession process due to the government’s current course. Sharp critical statements toward Georgia are also coming from the United States.
Georgian court dismisses election violations
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