My Vote, a local observer mission uniting dozens of Georgian civil society organizations, uncovered an election fraud scheme and called for the investigation and annulment of more than 300,000 votes.
Londa Toloraia, spokesperson for the mission, explained the fraud scheme at a briefing on 28 October, stressing that other multiple methods of election rigging were also applied to influence the election results. She said that more than 370 photos and videos, complaints from observers and eyewitnesses prove the following scheme and by the filed complaints.
Toloraia noted that more than 900 reports of election procedures’ violations from 196 precincts were registered by the My Vote observers. The violations were “consistent, repetitive and systemic in nature” and had substantial impact on the results. She said the rigging was planned and organized in advance.
According to the CEC’s changed rules, the roles at precincts were distributed among the members of the polling stations a week before the election, instead of on the day of the election as in previous elections. It was impossible for most of the watchdogs to monitor the role distribution process.
Also, along with the process of creating voter lists, reports and evidence of renting voter ID cards or collecting personal data in various ways and other forms of processing by the ruling party have increased on a large scale. Despite numerous calls for the investigative authorities to act on the above-mentioned facts, they were absolutely inactive.
She said the organization obtained evidence of the following:
Some of the voters had slips of paper inserted into their passports or taped to their ID cards. These slips had the personal numbers of other citizens written on them, allowing them to vote using someone else’s information. In some cases, they even voted with photocopies of ID cards stored on their cell phones.
These rigger voters were assisted by allied registrars at the polling stations [who were not chosen on the day of elections, as at previous elections, but were assigned, in advance, by the Commission district staffed with pro-government representatives]. The registrars’ job was to quickly enter the information into the verification machines while avoiding properly marking the voters with the identification fluid.
Avoiding marking was essential because these voters would later have to vote in other precincts. In many recorded cases, marking rules designed to prevent irregularities were violated: citizens were allowed to enter polling places without being checked for previous markings; marking fluid wasn’t applied; in some cases it was applied on a wrist, instead of finger; in other cases, registrars placed fingers or napkins over voters’ fingers to block the fluid. The marking fluid and flashlight used to verify markings were also of poor quality, allowing markings to fade quickly or be easily removed.
The rigger voters and registrars arranged registration tables so close to the walls that observers couldn’t see the process from behind. Observers were prevented from getting close to the registrars’ tables, or they were removed from the polling stations if they approached too near.
The rigging was further aided by observers from the ruling party. They had three tasks: to neutralize the independent observers, to ensure that rigger voters could enter the polling stations, and, in some cases, to create chaos to allow registrars and voters to manipulate the process without interference.
“All this allowed riggers to cast the ballots,” concluded Londa Toloraia, adding, “This rigging scheme does not create imbalance, as is common in other types of carousels where ballot papers need to be taken from the precincts.”
Moreover, “in the process of falsifying the elections, the so-called Observers of the GONGO organizations, who had three tasks: help neutralize the observers; bring the riggers to the precincts aided by with the representatives of the ruling party; and, f necessary, create chaos in the area, allowing the registrar and the rigger to carry out the verification process inconspicuously and deliver the ballot to the rigger without interruption.
Toloraia spoke of difficult working environment for the observers, as they were on many occasions harassed verbally and physically and forced to leave the polling stations.
“Despite extremely limited observation, the creation of an environment of hatred, physical, verbal and psychological abuse and attempts at intimidation, the observers managed to identify the main trends of this scheme and to document the evidence,” she added, noting that they had the relevant photographic and video evidence.
She said the district commission would receive complaints seeking to annul the results from 189 polling stations, totaling 300,000 votes. She said the number will likely to rise.
She also called on the relevant bodies, including the Prosecutor’s Office, to investigate the rigging scheme of elections.
All evidence will be sent to the observer missions and the media and is being submitted to the District Election Commissions, Toloraia said.
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