"During the elections on October 26, the most important constitutional right was violated - the principle of the secrecy of voting. This violation necessitates the only legal outcome: the annulment of the election results and the scheduling of re-elections," stated Tina Bokuchava, the chairman of Unity - National Movement.
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According to Bokuchava, the choice made by the voter was "totally visible" on all ballots.
"An additional aggravating circumstance is that a camera was installed with the vast majority of voting machines, which easily recorded the clearly visible traces of the leaked marker on the back of the ballot paper. It is further exacerbated by the fact that a member of the precinct from Georgian Dream, appointed by the District Election Commission, was standing right next to the electronic voting machine, manually recording and controlling the voter's choice along with video surveillance," said Tina Bokuchava.
The leader of the opposition party noted that on election day, through various manipulations, the most votes were stolen from Unity - National Movement.
"However, this is not the main issue today, as elections and the right to choose have been completely stolen. Accordingly, we demand the immediate annulment of the election results and the scheduling of re-elections, where the principle of secrecy and free will will be ensured," Bokuchava said.
The Georgian Young Lawyers' Association disputes the violation of the principle of secrecy of voting and demands the annulment of the results from all 2263 precincts conducted using technology on this basis. The human rights organization discovered the risks of violating the secrecy of voting during training and information meetings held by the CEC before the elections and appealed to the CEC to take appropriate measures to address the problem. In a letter dated September 28, the CEC informed GYLA that the election ballot used at the training and information meetings was a test version. They stated that the quality of the ballot used on voting day would be different, ensuring secrecy.
The Chairman of the Central Election Commission, Giorgi Kalandarishvili, denies that the secrecy of voting was violated during the elections. "We can say directly that no one at any stage could find out which specific political union the voter voted for. I understand the concern that some ballot papers may have had traces of discoloration on the other side, but in no case does this provide an opportunity to confirm that the voter voted for any specific entity," Kalandarishvili said.
