CEC: 60 Electoral Precincts Abroad Will Open in 42 Countries - The South Caucasus News

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On September 26, the Central Election Commission (CEC) announced that the October elections will be held outside Georgia in 42 countries in 60 electoral precincts. According to the CEC, the decision was made on the basis of the official data on the number of registered voters abroad provided by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, despite strong pressure from opposition parties and CSOs to open more electoral precincts.

The CEC noted that in 2024 more electoral precincts will be opened abroad than in the 2020 parliamentary elections, including some precincts that will be opened in the countries where elections have not been held before or the previous elections were not held there: the United Arab Emirates, Finland, South Korea, Japan, and Australia.

The Central Election Commission (CEC) clarified that polling stations abroad are established for 50 to 3,000 voters registered with consular services and that Georgian election laws do not allow polling stations to be opened on the basis of requests from citizens living abroad. The CEC criticized any attempts to manipulate this issue and emphasized its priority to ensure equal participation of Georgian citizens abroad.

CEC stressed that in order to vote, citizens must be registered with consular services or in accordance with Georgian laws. Those who are not registered can do so at diplomatic missions or polling stations abroad until October 7, 2024, before the parliamentary elections on October 26, 2024.

“We encourage voters to go through the relevant procedures in a timely manner. We once again call on the parties involved in the elections to refrain from misleading voters based on political interests and to promote a healthy electoral environment. Elections are a public affair, and it is the duty of all parties involved, together with the election administration, to conduct the election process in accordance with the law,” – concludes the CEC statement.

The issue of the opening of more polling stations abroad was in the spotlight throughout the year. Before yesterday’s meeting of the CEC, former public defender Nino Lomjaria pointed out a flaw in the data provided to the commission. She pointed out that at the beginning of August the number of Georgian citizens over the age of 18 registered with consular services was more than 67,000, but according to the data provided by the MFA on September 25, the number is a little over 65,500. The question of why the number of registered voters was decreasing instead of increasing became a concern for people.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs responded to these allegations by saying that not only adult citizens of Georgia have the right to register in the consular services, but also minors, persons with the status of stateless persons in Georgia and persons with a neutral travel document, who are not included in the category of persons with the right to vote, which causes the difference in the data.

“It is unfortunate that instead of objectively informing the population about the election procedures and rules, individuals continue to manipulate this issue and mislead our compatriots,” stated the MFA.

In addition, the MFA underlined that as parliamentary elections approach, various entities are offering consular registration services, misleading citizens by claiming that there is a way of simplified registration that bypasses the official MFA portal. These services are plagued by significant problems, including the repeated submission of the same person’s data to inflate statistics and the misuse of personal information for dishonest purposes. To protect personal data, citizens abroad are reminded that simplified consular registration is only available through the official website, www.geoconsul.gov.ge, which provides notifications throughout the process, ensuring that an individual can control the whole process by himself.

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