The Kutaisi Court of Appeal recently dismissed the appeals from monitoring organizations challenging the validity of election results in various districts of Western Georgia.
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“What a coincidence that when the Tbilisi Appeal Court announced a technical break, the Kutaisi Appeal Court, in the meantime, issued its decision, stating that the secrecy of the vote had not been violated in Western Georgia,” wrote Nona Kurdovanidze, chairperson of the Georgian Young Lawyers Association, on Facebook.
The coalition of monitoring organizations My Vote demanded the annulment of the election results in District Election Commission 17 of Kutaisi, 4 of Zugdidi, 33 of Batumi, 1 of Khobi, and 3 of Senaki, and also called for disciplinary action against commission members. Additionally, the Georgian Young Lawyers Association’s complaint sought to invalidate results across all districts in Western Georgia where voting was conducted using technology. Observing organizations argue that grounds for annulment were established due to election day violations, the most serious being the breach of voters' right to vote secrecy.
The appellate court consolidated the complaints from non-governmental organizations and assigned a panel of judges to review the case, consisting of Shota Siradze, Zaza Ramishvili, and Khatuna Khomeriki. Shota Siradze is the father of the director of the Patrol Police Department, Vazha Siradze, and served from 2012 to 2015 as a member of the Khobi Municipality Council and chairman of the Legal Affairs Commission with Georgian Dream. Due to this affiliation, the plaintiffs requested his recusal, but the motion was denied.
The Tbilisi Court of Appeal is currently reviewing complaints regarding the violation of vote secrecy in polling stations in Eastern Georgia.
