Judge Vladimer Khuchua of the Tetritskaro Municipality confirmed that the secrecy of the vote had been violated in the October 26 elections, setting an important precedent for the case. This decision annuls the results of 30 precincts.
He is the first judge to rule in favor of the Georgian Young Lawyers Association’s (GYLA) complaint that the secrecy of the ballot had been violated during the elections because the ballots were so thin that it was possible to see on the other side of the paper who the person had voted for.
According to GYLA, the court examined several ballot papers from the Tsalka and Tetritskaro districts and confirmed that the visibility of ink on the other side of the paper constituted a violation of the secrecy of the ballot. The judge reportedly conducted an experiment of sorts, ordering that the paper and envelope be brought in for a mock vote.
On the grounds of violation of the secrecy of the ballot, the GYLA seeks the annulment of the results of all machine-voted precincts, representing a total of 2263 precincts and the absolute majority of votes. If this number of votes is annulled, the snap elections should be held.
“GYLA welcomes this decision and emphasizes its importance for ensuring democratic election process,” the watchdog wrote in its statement.
The ruling party Georgian Dream, with the number 41, was at the bottom of the ballot paper, while several opposition parties, in particular the numbers 4, 5, 9, were at the top and 25 in the middle of the ballot paper. According to the observers and ordinary citizens, the marker ink on the other side of the paper clearly indicated who the person was voting for, either the opposition or the ruling party.
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