The observation mission "My Vote" completed the assessment of the pre-election environment. Many civil society organizations who are members of the mission took part in the evaluation.
According to the general assessment of the observation mission, although the parties were not limited in terms of directly participating in the elections, the pre-election environment of the October 26, 2024, parliamentary elections was uneven, while the decisions of the state agencies towards election violations were unfair and biased in favor of the ruling party.
The ruling party started preparing for such an election environment a long time ago—it hijacked all state institutions, started a large-scale discrediting campaign of non-governmental organizations, made the electoral legislation worse, and reshaped it to its interests.
Subordination of all state bodies to the ruling party clearly hurt the pre-election process. All three branches of government and also the so-called "Independent institutions" acted completely in accordance with the interests of the ruling party. Court decisions were/are usually in favor of the CEC and/or the ruling party. The law enforcement agencies did not respond properly or did not respond at all and inform the public about the initiation or refusal to initiate the investigation, even though there were clear facts showing suppression of the voters’ will - including threats, intimidation, illegal use of personal data in the possession of state agencies, influence by confiscation of identity cards, bribery, giving of illegal promises, and also attacks on the representatives of the opposition.
It is worth noting the hostile environment created for non-governmental organizations during the pre-election period, which was preceded by the adoption of the Law "On Transparency of Foreign Influence" ("Russian Law") in April 2024. Threats, verbal attacks, and discrediting campaigns against the civil sector were active during the pre-election period. Not a single political official remained who was not involved in the disinformation and discrediting campaign of the civil sector. Among them was the head of the so-called independent agency, which tried to stop the activity of the observation mission by an illegal decision. Also, some representatives of the civil sector were depicted in a negative context in the official election advertisement of the ruling party.
The pre-election period took place in the background of a massive disinformation campaign. Practically the entire state machinery, as well as government-controlled and managed propaganda media, served the ruling party's electoral goals. In this process, not only the legislative and executive authorities but also the judicial authorities and the so-called Independent institutions as well - the Central Election Commission, the Communications Commission, and the Anti-Corruption Bureau.
A characteristic trend for the pre-election period was also the use of legal, institutional and financial administrative resources by the ruling party for electoral purposes - large-scale mobilization of employees of budgetary organizations for the election campaign, including taking civil servants against their will to support manifestations, using budgetary programs for narrow party purposes.
The scale of the financing of the election campaign and the parties in general was uneven. Donations with a high risk of political corruption to the ruling party were recorded, although the Anti-Corruption Bureau was completely inactive despite our numerous appeals.
The critical media outlets were the target of constant attacks by the government. The Communications Commission tried in vain to create a facade of neutrality by also fining the government's propaganda channels. However, they mostly fined broadcasting companies that were critical of the government illegally and unjustifiably.
During the election period, access to the media for election subjects was also markedly unequal. Government-edited media outlets were closed to opposition parties and civil society. In addition, members of the ruling party did not visit critical media outlets, which damaged the process of informing the voters.
The CEC's work in the pre-election period in the direction of informing voters, smoothly registering observation organizations and observers, and including part of Georgian citizens living abroad in the special election list should be positively evaluated. However, due to the creation of an insufficient number of electoral stations abroad, it remains a serious challenge for a large number of immigrants to participate in elections. CEC’s decision to change the rule of distribution of functions of commission members at the polling station by CEC also critically hindered the monitoring organizations’ ability to observe the process of distribution of functions among the members of the commission.
We are preparing for the elections tomorrow. Tomorrow, our observers will observe the voting process in all regions of Georgia and abroad. We will periodically provide you with information about the ongoing processes during the whole day.