"The restriction of the right to vote for Georgian citizens displaced from the occupied territories is shocking. We believe that the Central Election Commission has the legislative authority to enable both displaced and non-displaced citizens who lack registration in the controlled territory of Georgia to participate in the elections by including them on a special electoral list," stated the coalition of monitoring organizations My Vote in response to the issue of limiting voting rights for citizens living abroad.
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The spokesperson of the coalition and head of the non-governmental organization Center for the Rule of Law, Londa Toloraia, stated that the right to participate in elections is restricted for thousands of immigrants.
"Despite the fact that Georgian citizens living abroad have registered with the consular office in accordance with the instructions of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Central Election Commission (CEC), they face additional administrative and bureaucratic barriers and cannot be included in the unified voter list.
Georgian citizens living abroad note that there are not enough polling districts opened outside the country. Additionally, internally displaced persons (IDPs) living abroad, whose place of registration is listed in the occupied territories of Georgia, are left without the right to vote.
Considering their numbers, the participation of Georgian citizens living abroad is essential for the election results.
The right of each citizen to participate in the elections must be ensured. Accordingly, we appeal to the responsible state agencies to fulfill their role and do everything possible to facilitate the participation of citizens living abroad in the elections," Toloraia said at a briefing held today.
The My Vote coalition calls on the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Georgia to make public the following information:
- How many citizens of Georgia were on consular registration as of September 26, 2024, and how many of them provided the data of adult Georgian citizens to the CEC?
- What reasons prevented individuals from being included in the list submitted to the CEC of all citizens of Georgia on consular registration? This information should be made public, detailing the reasons and the number of citizens affected.
- As of today, how many adult citizens of Georgia are on consular registration?
Additionally, the monitoring coalition calls on the Central Election Commission to provide detailed and clear explanations regarding the following issues:
- What reasons led to the exclusion of 2516 persons from the voter list provided by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs?
- How many Georgian citizens living abroad, who are not on consular registration, applied to the CEC with a request to open a polling precinct, and how did the CEC verify whether the citizens were on consular registration at the time of receiving the application?
- In the data forwarded by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to the CEC, only the number of citizens on consular registration by country was indicated. Did this data contain the registration addresses of persons on consular registration and information about their actual place of residence - specific country and territorial unit?
- Given that the legal deadline for considering a request for consular registration is five days, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs must submit the final list to the CEC by October 8, how many days in advance should a citizen living abroad apply to the diplomatic representation to request consular registration? According to the chairman of the CEC, the deadline for consular registration is October 7. Will those voters who apply on October 7 with a request to be registered consularly be included in the list if the application should have been made five days prior to October 7?
- Why did the CEC not request information about Georgian citizens on consular registration from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in stages, and why did it not start creating polling districts abroad as soon as the elections were scheduled?
- Why are those persons abroad who are registered in the territories of Abkhazia or the Tskhinvali region, or whose status as displaced persons has been removed by the decision of the relevant agency, not included in the special voter list?
With only five days remaining until the end of registration at polling stations opened abroad, the observation coalition calls on the CEC, in coordination with the relevant state agencies, to immediately establish and operate a hotline for fellow citizens living abroad, ensuring their timely participation in the elections without excessive bureaucracy.
On September 26, the Central Election Commission, based on the data provided by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, decided to create 60 polling stations in 42 countries for the 65 508 citizens of Georgia with the right to vote who are registered with the consular office outside the country. Additionally, the CEC announced that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs provided them with a list of 68 024 voters; however, after processing, 65 508-2516 fewer voters - were included in the voter list. According to representatives of the CEC, the absence of valid documents was the basis for the exclusion of individuals from the unified voter list.
