The monitoring mission "My Voice" demands the legal responsibility of the Chairman of the Central Election Commission, Giorgi Kalandarishvili, its deputy, Giorgi Sharabidze, and the Secretary of the CEC, Giorgi Javakhishvili.
As the representative of the observation mission, Londa Toloraia, stated at the briefing, the mentioned persons played one of the important roles in the implementation of the large-scale scheme of falsification of the October 26 parliamentary elections by "Georgian Dream".
In particular, according to her, the CEC did not fulfill its promise that on the election day, the quality of the ballot would ensure the secrecy of the vote. Also, the election day ballots were printed on thin paper, making it possible for people at all electronic polling stations to identify the voter's choices. According to Toloraia, the mentioned decision/action of the CEC on the day of the elections allowed the ruling party to control the will of the voters on a large scale, both by the members of the election commission and by the use of video cameras installed near the voting booths and vote counting machines.
"In addition, CEC illegally, arbitrarily and unjustifiably changed the rules established by the Election Code two months and 9 days before the elections, without public discussions and consultation with the involved parties, and instead of determining the function of registrars by drawing lots on the day of the elections, it determined the deadline for holding the said lots 1 week before the elections . As a result of this change, observation of the said process became impossible for the majority of monitoring organizations. In addition, the CEC's change in the procedure for appointing the persons working with the verification machines and determining their identity a week earlier made it easier and possible to influence the persons performing this function and subjugate them to the interests of the ruling party.
The same decision of the CEC caused the members of the Precinct Election Commission responsible for flow regulation and marking procedures to be given these functions through an opaque process. We remind the public that the insecurity of the marking rule during election day contributed significantly to the successful implementation of the fraud scheme. It was the lack of marking that made it possible to vote with someone else's ID card and someone else's personal number.
Also, despite the CEC's public promise that there would be no interruptions in the observation of the verification process, on the day of voting, the opposite reality was at the polling stations: the registration tables at the polling stations were stuck to the wall in such a way that it was impossible for the observers to fully observe the process. Where our observers had the opportunity to stand behind the verification machines, the commission members indicated that they should move away from the location, as they were not allowed to observe from that location. In some cases, our observers were deliberately expelled from the districts to observe the verification process.
There are evidences that the ruling party voted for other persons instead of persons who were not in Georgia and/or at the registration address. The implementation of this type of large-scale scheme is unimaginable without the participation of the election administration. It should also be noted that the decision taken by the CEC not to open additional precincts abroad increased the number of citizens who could not participate in the elections. This decision of the CEC contributed to the plan of the ruling party - to vote for other persons instead of those persons who were not in Georgia and/or at the registration address.
On election day, it was reported that voters were not allowed to vote because they were supposedly on the transfer box list and had already voted. According to the information provided to the monitoring organization, they went to their apartments on behalf of the election administration and promised to enter the portable ballot box into the lists and bring the portable ballot box to their home on the election day, however, they did not bring the portable ballot box with them on the election day and therefore, they were restricted from voting. Most likely, other people voted for them instead.
In precincts set up abroad, in several cities with high numbers of immigrant voters, the voting process took place amid faulty infrastructure and insufficient registrars, putting the entire electoral process at risk - many voters were unable to vote, as well as endangering the health of voters, observers and commission members. ;
According to the information reported by the opposition parties and the media, it is established that the election administration has appointed the family members of the representatives of the "Georgian Dream" and their related persons as members and chairmen of the Precinct Election Commission. Today it is becoming clear that the purpose of staffing the commissions in such a way was to implement a large-scale falsification scheme. The members of the commission prevented the observation organizations from carrying out observations. They were aggressive, physically and verbally insulted the observers, got angry when complaints were written, encouraged the presence of unauthorized persons at the polling station, registered and monitored voters, transferred voter data to the so-called "call centers" of the ruling party, the monitoring mission said.
According to "My Voice", during the election day, information about voting with other people's ID cards and other people's personal numbers, malfunctioning of the verification process, violation of marking procedures, malfunctioning of the marking fluid and flashlight, and numerous facts of violence against the representatives of observation organizations was widely spread. According to "My Voice", the chairman of the CEC did not react to the violations, nor did he call on the members of the commission and relevant services to react. This raises a well-founded doubt that the developments at the election precincts were acceptable to the CEC.
"It should be noted that according to the information spread by the media, the CEC had issued accreditation to Russian propaganda media, including the Russian propagandist accredited by NTV, Alexander Malkevich, who violated the law of Georgia "On Occupied Territories". He is wanted by the USA special services on charges of interfering in the American elections, and a reward of 10 million dollars has been set. The secretary of the CEC is responsible for its accreditation.
We remind the public that the ruling party changed the law in order to allow Giorgi Kalandarishvili to be the chairman of the CEC, which became the subject of criticism by international organizations. As it can be seen today, the presence of Giorgi Kalandarishvili in this position was important for the ruling party in order to pursue the interests of the party during the election period.
The analysis of the video footage of the CEC sessions confirms that along with CEC Chairman Giorgi Kalandarishvili, his deputy Giorgi Sharabidze and CEC Secretary Giorgi Javakhishvili were actively involved in making illegal decisions to facilitate the desired scheme.
We are fully aware that conducting an effective investigation in the conditions when all state institutions, including investigative services, are under the control of the ruling party is unrealistic at this stage, however, on the part of the above-mentioned persons, at least Article 342 of the Criminal Code of Georgia - official indifference, and the confirmation of intent In this case, there is a crime under article 332 (abuse of official authority) of the Criminal Code of Georgia in combination with election crimes (162 (obstructing the exercise of will in elections), 164 (violation of the secrecy of voting), 164 sec. (participation in elections based on a forged document) , 164 tertia (falsification of elections), 164 (4) (influencing the will of the voter). Therefore, we appeal to the prosecutor's office to start an investigation into the fact of the commission of an official crime by the CEC representatives.
And finally, the CEC was one of the state agencies, not the only one, involved in such a large-scale election fraud scheme. The observation mission continues to work in other directions as well, and we will provide information to the public step by step," said the "My Voice" observation mission.
