Day: October 4, 2025
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Amnesty International on elections in Georgia
Amnesty International says Georgia’s local elections are taking place amid harsh political repression against opposition parties and civil society.
The elections are scheduled for 4 October 2025. On the same day, a large protest is planned in Tbilisi with the declared aim of “peacefully overthrowing the government.”
The ruling Georgian Dream party and two opposition parties taking part in the vote are urging people to go to the polls. But organisers of the protest, along with parties boycotting the elections, are calling on citizens to join the rally instead of casting their ballots.
The vote is going ahead even though opposition leaders are in jail. Six opposition figures – virtually all those who played an active role in the protest movement – remain in custody.
Amnesty International points to a sweeping campaign of repression, including politically motivated prosecutions of opposition members, restrictions and punitive measures against independent media and civil society, as well as mass arbitrary detentions and ill-treatment of protesters.
“Opposition leaders are in prison, and civil society organisations are under pressure. The Georgian authorities are running a campaign that strips people of their rights to free expression and peaceful assembly.
The authorities must honour their human rights obligations and put an end to the unlawful use of police force, arbitrary detentions, torture and other forms of ill-treatment of protesters. These violations have plunged the country into a deep human rights crisis since the parliamentary elections in October 2024,” said Denis Krivosheev, Amnesty International’s deputy director for Eastern Europe and Central Asia.
Amnesty International on elections in Georgia
News in Georgia
275,948 citizens have cast their ballots in the municipal elections by 10:00, two hours after the polling stations were opened, according to the Central Election Commission (CEC). This is 7,86% of the total number of eligible voters.
The highest voter turnout was recorded in the Racha-Lechkhumi region, western Georgia.
3,513,818 voters are eligible to cast their ballots in the elections today at 3,061 polling stations, including 2,284 with electronic voting. CEC expects to offer preliminary results based on electronic precincts in 1-2 hours after the polls close at 8 pm. The final results are expected later, after all ballots have been counted by hand.
In the 2021 local polls, which carried an added meaning of a “referendum” on snap elections, the 10:00 nationwide turnout rate stood at 7.41%, while the final turnout amounted to 51.92%. In the 2017 local elections, the 10:00 nationwide voter turnout rate stood at 6.74%, while the final turnout amounted to 45.65%
In the 2024 parliamentary elections, the 10:00 nationwide voter turnout rate came in at 9,27%.
The local elections take place across Georgia amid a partial opposition boycott, scant credible observation, continued repression by Georgian Dream authorities, jailings of protesters and opposition members, and a crackdown on independent media and watchdogs. The vote comes approximately a year after the disputed parliamentary elections, and just 10 months into the non-stop protests that erupted in response to Georgian Dream’s announcement to halt EU integration. A parallel mass rally has been scheduled at 4 pm at the parliament in Tbilisi with the stated aim of “peacefully overthrowing” the Georgian Dream government.
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