The CEC Chairperson Calls on Voters to Actively Participate in Elections
Today, Giorgi Kalandarishvili, Chairperson of the Central Election Commission of Georgia held a conclusive news briefing.
“On October 30, the second round of municipal elections will be held. You will elect the mayors at 5 self-governing cities and 15 municipalities, and 42 majoritarian members at 24 election districts. I would like to call on the voters registered in those election districts wherein the second round of elections are being held to be active from 08:00 am, visit the election precincts, realize your constitutional right and participate in polling.
1830 election precincts are opened for the second round of elections, in addition, 8 election precincts created in exceptional cases will serve the voters, and 29 special polling stations which will serve the voters placed in intensive care units and isolation.
The total number of voters for the second round of elections constitutes 2 088 722.
On E-day, you will find the polling booths with a renewed design that has the cut from the front side, so that the secrecy of polling is ensured. We would like to remind you that voting is secret and photo-video shooting at the polling booth is prohibited. During the October 2 elections, redesigned ballot booths were used only in Tbilisi, and thereafter the CEC decided to utilize them at all election precincts for the second round of elections.
Similar to the October 2 elections, voting will be conducted by using electronic technologies at 31 election precincts of the N4 Krtsanisi election district.
By the CEC decision, the video recording of vote counting procedures will be conducted at all 1750 election precincts where the number of registered voters exceeds 300. Recounting of election results of randomly selected polling stations will be also recorded.
I would like to underline, that registration was prolonged for all observer and media organizations registered for the October 2 elections. Electoral stakeholders will monitor the October 30 elections with an increased number.
5 309 representatives of electoral subjects, 35 198 observers of local observer organizations, and 1 102 observers of 52 international observer organizations are registered for the second round of elections, and 3 711 representatives of 119 media organizations will cover the upcoming elections.
I will take this opportunity to call upon the election commissions at all levels not to spare any effort and to hold the second round of elections with high responsibility and professionally.
Well-conducted elections - are an indicator of the level of democracy in the country - in which all employees of the Election Administration, all election administrators, participate equally, and all their roles are equally important. Our team works diligently and will continue their work on E-day to ensure voters cast their votes in a safe and free election environment.
I would like to call upon the observers to monitor the election process accurately and evaluate the process and E-day objectively. I urge the media to cover the process widely, impartially, and in detail and deliver complete and objective election-related information to citizens. I would like to also appeal to the members of political parties to join us and together with election administrators and precinct election commission members support a peaceful election environment.
Please note that on October 30 you will find a COVID-safe environment. All COVID-19 regulations will be followed and you will have a possibility to cast vote in an electoral environment safe for your health”.
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New program provides financial and technical support to women in the Marneuli and Lagodekhi Municipalities
The Rural Development Agency is launching a new program, providing financial and technical support to women, who are willing to set up a greenhouse in the Marneuli and Lagodekhi Municipalities.
According to the administration of the Rural Development Agency, the program aims to integrate economically inactive women from Marneuli and Lagodekhi municipalities and help them to become full-fledged members of society, improve their socio-economic status and stimulate women's involvement in agricultural activities.
The pilot program was developed within the framework of the UN Women project " Women’s Economic Empowerment in the South Caucasus". The Swiss and Austrian Development and Cooperation Agencies funded the project.
The total budget of the program amounts to USD 300,000, out of which USD 240,000 is donor financial resources, and USD 60,000 – is the participation of the Rural Development Agency.
According to the program, female beneficiaries will have the opportunity to set up a greenhouse on a small plot of land and produce agricultural products throughout the year for further sale.
The financing of the Agency shall be not more than 90%, not more than GEL 25,000 per beneficiary for setting up a greenhouse. Under the program, the plot of at least 200 square meters will be financed for the arrangement/building of a greenhouse.
The potential beneficiary can be an adult woman, not more than 60 years old, who owns or co-owns a plot of land not exceeding 5,000 square meters.
Within the program, technical assistance will be provided to the beneficiaries - a theoretical course on greenhouse management and maintenance of specific crops, also practical training for specific crops.
The priority will be given to those women who have the status of socially vulnerable or have a minor child(ren)while reviewing applications of the potential beneficiaries. -
Head of the Central Election Commission of Turkmenistan met with representatives of the Supreme Electoral Council of the Republic of Turkey
On March 10, 2022, Gulmyrat Muradov, the head of the of apparatus of the Commission for holding Elections and referendums in Turkmenistan met with Muharram Akkaya, head of the Supreme Electoral Council of the Republic of Turkey, and Ali Urker, member of the Supreme Electoral Council of the Republic of Turkey, who arrived in our country as international observers. About this reports website of Central Commission for Holding Elections and Referendums in Turkmenistan.
The head of the Central Election Commission of Turkmenistan said that he was pleased to see representatives of the friendly state in Turkmenistan as international observers, informed them about conduct and preparation works on elections on March 12, 2022 as well as introduced the provisions of the electoral law.
At the end of the meeting, the representatives of the Supreme Electoral Council of the Republic of Turkey, our fraternal state, wished the head of the Central Election Commission of Turkmenistan organized helding of the important political and public event on March 12.
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Georgia: EU and UNICEF to support social programmes for children
Children and families in Georgia will benefit from child-centered municipal social programmes as a result of a new initiative funded by the EU and implemented by UNICEF.
The 18-month project, ‘Supporting Municipalities in Developing Municipal Social Programmes for Children and Families with Children’, will assist ten selected municipalities in developing social programmes tailored to the needs of the children and families with children.
The project, based on the methodology used by the EU Member States, will develop social needs assessment guidelines and tools, and provide trainings and on-the-job coaching to members of the local task force in pilot municipalities. They will also learn how to monitor the implementation of social programmes.
The project is implemented in partnership with the National Association of Local Self-Government of Georgia.
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PARLIAMENT ELECTING CEC CHAIR WITH 85 VOTES
The Parliament elected the Chairman of the Central Election Commission and two members of the commission. They announced it recently.
In the primary ballot, two candidates for the CEC chairmanship: Tengiz Tevzadze and Giorgi Kalandarishvili, failed to get two-thirds (100) votes in the full parliament.According to the law, Giorgi Kalandarishvili was elected as the Chairman of the Central Election Commission for a term of 6 months by 84 votes against 2 in the second round of voting.
As for the election of professional members of the CEC - the MPs voted for 4 candidates for 2 vacant positions - Kristine Kajaia, Levan Isakadze, Maia Zaridze and Gia Tsatsashvili.
Similar to the election of the CEC Chairpaerson, none of the candidates managed to get 2/3 of the votes in the primary ballot.
As a result of repeated vote, Maia Zaridze was elected as a member of the Central Election Commission with 79 votes against 2 and Gia Tsatsashvili with 77 votes against 2, also for 6 months.
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Municipal Elections - Preliminary Results of Second Round
The second round of Municipal Elections is over. Chairperson of the Central Election Commission (CEC) presented preliminary results of the elections to the media and the public during a press briefing held today. Giorgi Kalandarishvili expressed his gratitude towards the voters for their activity and for high civic responsibility exposed for the second round of elections. “In pandemic conditions, 1 025 406 voters took part in the process of voting. I thank each and every election administrator who spared no effort, worked 24 hours a day and still continue to work in order to ensure free and transparent environment for the entire electoral process.
The election process was quite competitive. Inaccuracies took place, but overall, not only by our estimation, a COVID-safe and professionally organized election environment was ensured for every voter arriving at the Precinct Election Commission (PEC). In certain cases, the voting process was delayed for a while due to specific incidents in several precincts, which did not affect the entire voting process.
The second round of elections was conducted and I would like to thank all the electoral stakeholders: observer organizations, media outlets and electoral subjects who were actively observing the elections," - stated the CEC Chairperson.
Preliminary election results of self-governing cities and self-governing communities
As Giorgi Kalandarishvili stated at the end of the briefing, the preliminary results of the second round are counted according to the summary protocols of all 261 polling stations through the majoritarian contest and full information is available at the CEC’s special website: results.cec.gov.ge.
According to the legislation, the Election Administration (EA) officially summarizes the results of the second round no later than November 13, after completing all the procedures prescribed by law.
As for the complaints, a total of 272 complaints were submitted to the District Election Commissions (DECs) yesterday, of which 121 were submitted by observers and 151 by electoral subjects. Most of them related to procedural violations. Detailed statistics on complaints will be provided by the EA to the public in the nearest future. We would like to remind you, that the DECs will examine the complaints within 4 calendar days in accordance with the Election Code and then make a decision.
The DEC’s decision may be appealed to a respective district/city court within 2 calendar days. The district/city court shall consider the appeal within 2 calendar days.
We would also like to recall that the EA will carry out recount procedures; In each election district, where the second round of elections was held, 5-5 polling stations will be identified by casting a lot on a random basis and the results of a total of 150 polling stations will be recounted; this is another important guarantee of ensuring the high quality of election transparency.
