At 16:00 GYLA continues observing Election Day processes.

 

The voting process is mostly conducted in a calm environment. However, a number of incidents of physical and verbal confrontation nearby several precincts have been noted. Also, the following violations have been identified:

GYLA observers identified various violations and wrote a number of complaints.

 

An incident took place at the precinct #20 of Isani. According to GYLA observer, at about noon, the representative of an electoral subject “Georgian Dream”, Ioseb Khimshiashvili verbally abused the deputy chairperson of the Precinct Election Commission and members of the commission. Observer noted that Khimshiashvili threatened the deputy chairperson of the Precinct Election Commission and said: “they would see what would happen to them once the elections are over.”

 

 

Accoridng to our observer, an incident took place in the yard of kindergarden #209 of Krtsanisi between the coordinators of “United NationalMovement” and “Georgian Dream”. The verbal confrontation that lasted for about 5 minutes, was witnessed by our observer.

 

There are three electoral precincts located in the building of the kindergarden: #24, #25 and #26. According to the coordinators of the “United National Movement” the conflict was initiated by the coordinators of “Georgian Dream” when they were asked to leave the territory. According to the same source, coordinators of “Georgian Dream” told them: “Their train had already left, and that they were criminals just for casting a vote in favor of the “United National Movement”. According to the cooridnator of “Georgian Dream”, the representative of the “United National Movement” was campaigning on the site, which later sparked the conflict.

According to GYLA observers, physical confrontation took place between the supporters of “United National Movement” and the supporters of “Georgian Dram” on the territory nearby precincts # 8, #9 and #10 of Nadzaladevi, in the yard of Public School #7. Patrol Police service was called on spot, who was able to diffuse the tensions.

 

On the territory adjacent to precinct #1 of Khoni, representatives of “Georgian Dream” moved around with the lists of registered voters, were directly calling them to cast a vote. They also offered to provide them with transportation. Activists of “United National Front” took a picture of them, which was later ensued by verbal confrontation.

 

On the precinct #30 of Rustavi, GYLA observer was refused the right to make a remark in the logbook. Precinct Election Commission explained, that the observer only had the right to submit a statement to the Precinct Election Commission. GYLA observer notified the District Election Commission on the matter. The secretary of the District Election Commission also said that the observer had no right to write down a remark in the logbook. GYLA observer presented a complaint on the issue. Information was delivered to the Central Election Commission, which helped to resolve the problem.

 

 

A voter was allowed on the voting site without an ID card at the precinct #10 of Ozurgeti, and he tried to vote with the ID card of the chairman of Precinct Election Commission. GYLA observer fillled out a complaint about the violation and requested the violation to be eliminated, which resulted in denying the voter the permission to vote with the ID card of the member of the Commission. 

 

At the precinct #35 of Mtatsminda one of the registrars sealed the electoral ballots in advance. The violation was eliminated after a remark was made by a GYLA observer.

 

At the precinct #77 of Gldani, a voter was unable to cast a vote since there already was a signature on the electoral list across his name. GYLA observer submitted a complaint about the incident.

 

At the precinct #2 of Mtskheta a voter was given two electoral ballots instead of one. The voter cast a vote on both ballots, sealed the envelope and put it in the ballot box. GYLA observer submitted a complaint on this violation.

 

At the precinct #56 of Batumi, a registrar gave away a ballot without a seal and a signature. After a remark made by the GYLA observer, the violation was eliminated.

 

 

According to a GYLA observer, representatives of candidates were present on the territory adjacent to the precinct #57 of Gldani, who recorded full names of voters. After GYLA observer identified the group, they moved away from the territory adjacent to the precinct.

 

On the territory nearby the precincts #77, #78 and #69 of Gldani, by the kindergarden #100 a group of unidentified persons record information about the voters. They refuse to disclose their identities. 

 

At the precincts #40, #47, #21 and #53 of Telavi representatives of “Georgian Dream” and “United National Movement” recorded the number of voter turn-out. 

 

Incidents listed above may constitute examples of indirect impact on the voter’s will.

 

 

At the precinct #37 of Tkibuli, the chairman of of the Precinct Election Commission damaged the seal by an accident. GYLA observer wrote a remark in the logbook and told the chairman to not resume the voting process until the problem was fixed. The violation was eliminated: A new seal was delivered from the District Election Commission.

 

 

At the precinct #9 of Gori a registrar and a crowd controller wanted to exchange their shifts for the entire day. After a remark made by the GYLA observer, they only exchanged positions temporarily. Relevant remark was written in the logbook on the situtation.

 

After casting lots at the precinct #16 of Gori, one of the registrars gave away their spot to a member who ended up with no duties. Chairman of the Precinct Election Commission noted this in the logbook. After a remark by the GYLA observer, this violation was eliminated. 

 

At the precinct #20 of Telavi, the mobile ballot box was accompanied by two representatives of “Georgian Dream”. GYLA observer wrote a complaint on the violation.

 

At the precinct #12 of Krtsanisi, the Commission did not allow the representative of “United National Movement” to participate in the process of casting lots of persons who would accompany the mobile ballot box, arguing that he was automatically allowed to accompany the mobile box. After GYLA observer’s verbal remark the violation was eliminated and the representative of the “United National Movement” participated in the process of casting lots. At the same precinct, the persons who got to accompany the mobile box refused to do so, and as a result, they were arbitrarily replaced by other members of the Commission. After a remark made by the GYLA observer, the violation was eliminated; the process of casting lots was conducted anew.

 

 

At the precinct #45 of Telavi, a suspicious liquid was identified on the voter’s left thumb while inking. After the remark of the GYLA observer the Precinct Election Commission denied the voter the right to vote. 

 

At the precincts #25 of Khoni, #1 of Bagdati, #19 and #24 of Tkibuli, the information of registration site of the first voter was not included in the control sheet. GYLA observers submitted complaints about this violation.

 

 

At the precinct #6 of Mtskheta, the logbook was missing the signature of the chairman of the District Election Commission. Namely, the signature of the chairman and the deputy chairman of the District Election Commission on the sealed sheet of the logbook were missing. After GYLA representative made a remark, the violation was eliminated. The chairman of the District Election Committee signed the seal sheet of the logbook.

 

At the precinct #33 of Krtsanisi (Special precinct) less ballots than registered voters are available. Namely, there are 108 registered voters and 100 ballots. At around 11:30am 70 voters had already cast a vote. According to the GYLA observer, in case all voters turn out to vote, not all of them will be able to participate in the elections. 

At precinct #30 of Terjola electoral lists were not displayed. After the remark of the GYLA observer, the violation was eliminated.

 

At the Precinct #6 of Isani, the number of available ballots is less than the number of registered voters. 

 

Up to this moment GYLA observers submitted 22 complaints and 21 remarks in the logbooks

 

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ჯ. კახიძის #15, თბილისი, საქართველო, 0102 ; ტელ: (995 32) 95 23 53; ფაქსი: (995 32) 92 32 11; ელ-ფოსტა: gyla@gyla.ge; www.gyla.ge
15, J. Kakhidze str. 0102, Tbilisi, Georgia. Tel: (995 32) 95 23 53; Fax: (995 32) 92 32 11; E-mail: gyla@gyla.ge; www.gyla.ge