The International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy (ISFED) announced that it will not publish precise Parallel Vote Tabulation (PVT) estimates for the October 26, 2024, parliamentary elections, citing concerns over the integrity of the electoral process.
“To provide a comprehensive overview of the parliamentary election of October 26, 2024, it is important to assess the entire electoral process, which includes a detailed analysis of the pre-election period, election day, and the post-election period, and to draw conclusions based on these grounds.
The results of the October 26 parliamentary election, regardless of the outcome, cannot be seen as truly reflecting the preferences of Georgian voters. Although ISFED’s PVT results verification is consistent with the results announced by the CEC, the PVT results verification cannot be used as a measure of the validity of the electoral process because fundamental flaws in pre-election and election day processes impacted voters’ ability to express their free choice.
Violations revealed during the pre-election period, namely voter pressure, intimidation, confiscation of identity cards, collection/processing of personal data, and voter bribery, significantly damaged trust in the election. On election day, ISFED documented serious violations, such as ballot stuffing of ballot papers, multiple voting, unprecedented levels of voter bribery, expulsion of observers from polling stations, as well as instances of mobilizing voters outside polling stations, collecting their personal data, and controlling their voting intentions. According to ISFED’s assessment, given the combination of these violations, the results cannot reflect the will of the voters. As a result, ISFED will not release precise PVT estimates. ISFED continues to monitor and analyze the evolution of electoral processes,” the ISFED stated.
