The Coalition of Observation Organizations - "My Vote" responds to the issue of depriving Georgian citizens abroad of the right to vote.
Thousands of Georgian citizens are being restricted from participating in elections. Although Georgian citizens abroad followed the instructions of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Central Election Commission (CEC) and registered with consular services, they face additional administrative and bureaucratic barriers and are not included in the unified voter list. Additionally, Georgian citizens living abroad note that there are not enough polling stations open abroad.
Furthermore, refugees living abroad whose registration location is the occupied territories of Georgia are being deprived of their voting rights.
Considering the number of Georgian citizens living abroad, their participation in elections is essential for election outcomes. Every one of them must be guaranteed the right to participate in elections. Therefore, we urge the responsible state institutions to fulfill their roles and do everything necessary to ensure the participation of citizens living abroad in elections.
We call on the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to make the following information public:
• How many Georgian citizens were registered with consular services as of September 26, 2024? How many adult Georgian citizens' data was submitted to the CEC?
• Publish detailed information explaining why some Georgian citizens who registered with consular services were not included in the list submitted to the CEC. This information should include the reasons and the number of citizens affected;
• How many adult Georgian citizens are currently registered with consular services?
We call on the Central Election Commission to make the following information public and provide clear and detailed explanations on the following issues:
• What were the reasons for removing 2,516 individuals from the voter list submitted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs? According to the Deputy Chairman of the CEC, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs submitted a list of 68,024 voters, but after processing, the CEC included 65,508 voters in the voter list. CEC representatives explained that the removal of individuals from the unified voter list was due to the absence of valid documents. A clear explanation should be provided as to whether the 2,516 individuals had expired passports and ID cards;
• How many Georgian citizens living abroad, who are not registered with consular services, requested the opening of a polling station? How did the CEC verify whether these citizens were registered with consular services when receiving their requests?
• Did the data submitted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to the CEC include only the number of citizens registered with consular services per country, or did it also include their registration addresses and information about their actual residence—specific countries and territorial units?
• Given that the legislative deadline for reviewing consular registration requests is 5 days, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs must submit the final list to the CEC on October 8, how many days in advance must Georgian citizens living abroad submit consular registration requests to diplomatic representations? According to the CEC Chairman's statement, the deadline for consular registration is October 7. Will those voters who submit consular registration requests on October 7 be included in the list, or should the request have been made 5 days before October 7?
• Why did the CEC not request information about Georgian citizens registered with consular services from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs gradually and why didn’t they start establishing polling stations abroad as soon as the elections were announced?
• Why are individuals registered in the regions of Abkhazia or South Ossetia (Samachablo) or individuals whose refugee status has been revoked by the relevant authorities not included in the special voter list abroad?
It is outrageous that Georgian citizens displaced from the occupied territories are being deprived of their right to vote. We believe that the Central Election Commission has the legislative tools to enable displaced and non-displaced Georgian citizens who are not registered in government-controlled territories to participate in elections by including them in a special voter list.
Since there are only 5 days left until the registration deadline for polling stations abroad, we call on the Central Election Administration, in coordination with the relevant state institutions, to immediately create and implement an effective communication hotline for our compatriots living abroad to ensure that their voting rights are realized on time and without unnecessary bureaucracy.
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