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BREAKING: President Zurabishvili Rejects Election Results (civil.ge)

submitted 4 weeks ago by Sunshine@lemmy.ca to c/europe

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[–] 0x815 11 points 4 weeks ago* (last edited 4 weeks ago)

The OSCE report (pdf) says:

Election day was generally procedurally well-organized and administered in an orderly manner but marked by a tense environment and several incidents of physical altercations and widespread intimidation of voters, as well as citizen observers. Voter identification (VID) and vote-counting devices (VCDs) were mostly operational, but the majority of voters in observed polling stations had difficulties operating the VCDs. Further, vote secrecy was potentially compromised in 24 per cent of observations, due to the manner of ballot insertion into VCDs or inadequate polling station layout. IEOM observers frequently reported indications of pressure on voters and overcrowding, and procedural inconsistencies.

In many cases, party representatives recorded the voting process and tracked voters, raising concerns about potential intimidation. While the presence of citizen and party observers contributed to transparency, many citizen observers appeared to act on behalf of contestants. During counting, procedural omissions included the improper handling of unused ballots, not announcing votes aloud and the IEOM noted inconsistencies in the determination of the validity of ballots. Tabulation was positively assessed, but the completeness and accuracy of results protocols was not consistently checked, with DECs citing that official results are finalized at the national level.

And here is another report.

Addition for the report by Transparency International Georgia

The election day took place in the context of serious and substantial violations. At the end of the day, it became clear that the various problems identified during the monitoring of the election process during the day were part of a larger scheme, the purpose of which was to subvert the final result of the election [...] unprecedented pressure was exerted on the representatives of the monitoring organizations. There were physical attacks, verbal abuse, intimidation, expulsion from the electoral precincts without reason. In most cases, it was impossible to observe the voting process. In some cases, it was even necessary to evacuate the observers [...] there was a concentration of unauthorized persons in the polling stations and their surrounding areas, who were particularly aggressive towards both voters and observers. As always, this time too, in order to pressure and intimidate the voters, the ruling party used criminal groups [...] neither the election administration nor the law enforcement bodies reacted to the gross facts of the violation of the law. There was a clear impression that the persons involved in rigging the elections had guarantees that no one would raise the question of their responsibility, even though they committed crimes [...]