Civil.Ge | Public Defender’s Claims/CEC Response

Public Defender’s Claims/CEC Response

Civil Georgia, Tbilisi / 15 Apr.'08 / 20:48

Below is the Central Election Commission’s rebuttal of the Public Defender’s allegations. The rebuttal was issued by the Georgian government’s Inter-Agency Task-Force for Free and Fair Elections (IATF) on April 15:

Precinct	Public Defender’s Findings	CEC Response
Marneuli #7	Commission member Givi Kviparoidze votes twice and attempts a third time, but others confiscate his ballot and throw it in the fire. The protocol lists 545 voters, but only 487 voters appear on the video footage. Thus, 58 votes are unaccounted for.	A violation does appear to have taken place. However, as there was no complaint reported about the precinct on Election Day, the CEC did not investigate earlier and was unaware of the irregularity until viewing the video footage. The case has been referred to the General Prosecutor’s Office. The Public Defender’s analysis does not account for the existence of the mobile ballot box. The ‘extra’ votes not observed on the video footage were cast via the mobile box.
Bolnisi #1	Deputy Commission Chairperson Lia Menabdishvili votes twice, including once with a red envelope (the procedure reserved for same-day registrants). The protocol lists 813 voters, but only 765 voters appear on the video footage. Thus, 48 votes are unaccounted for.	A woman appears to approach the ballot box on two occasions, but her identity cannot be ascertained from the footage and it is unclear what she is doing (her back is to the camera). Several observers were monitoring the ballot box at the time; no complaints were reported for the precinct. The Public Defender’s analysis does not account for the existence of the mobile ballot box. The ‘extra’ votes not observed on the video footage were cast via the mobile box.
Bolnisi #3	Commission Chairman Victor Isiani took, circled, and stamped ballots, then handed them to an observer who dropped them into the ballot box. Later, the same Isiani took and stamped ballots, then handed them to an unknown person who put them in his pocket and left the polling station. The protocol lists 676 voters, but only 659 voters appear on the video footage. Thus, 18 votes are unaccounted for.	Something does appear to have happened, but the sequence of events cannot be confidently determined from the video footage. The General Prosecutor’s Office is investigating the case. CEC staff members viewed the footage thoroughly with the specific aim of observing the alleged incident, but nothing resembling the Public Defender’s claim could be found. The Public Defender’s analysis does not account for the existence of the mobile ballot box. The ‘extra’ votes not observed on the video footage were cast via the mobile box.
Gori #2	The protocol lists 1073 voters, but only 518 voters appear on the video footage. Thus, 555 votes are unaccounted for.	Gori #90, which has 479 registered voters, is attached to Gori #2. The so-called ‘extra’ ballots were cast at the other precinct, but subsequently counted and tabulated by Gori #2. Some ballots may also have been cast via the mobile voting box.
Gori #17	The protocol lists 1857 voters, but only 519 voters appear on the video footage. Thus, 1338 votes are unaccounted for.	Gori #24, which is a military precinct with 1312 registered voters, is attached to Gori #17. (Turnout is usually extremely high at military bases, because the servicemen are stationed directly at the site and feel a patriotic obligation to vote.) The remaining ‘extra’ votes were cast via the mobile voting box.
Gori #22	The protocol lists 764 voters, but only 658 voters appear on the video footage. Thus, 106 votes are unaccounted for.	The CEC representatives have re-checked footage concerning this precinct. Number of counted voter is 702 and not 658 as stated by Public Defender. Some ballots may also have been cast via the mobile voting box.
Gori #83	The footage was not examined, as the camera was not recording during part of the day.	It is unknown why the camera did not record the full day.
Zugdidi #2	The protocol lists 851 voters, but only 457 voters appear on the video footage. Thus, 394 votes are unaccounted for. One woman is observed voting twice.	Part of the video footage is missing due to technical shortcomings. Therefore, the tape cannot be used reliably to count the number of voters. An incidence of multiple voting does appear to have occurred. The case has been referred to the General Prosecutor’s Office.
Zugdidi #5	The footage was not examined, as the camera stopped recording during the morning and did not resume.	It is unknown why the camera stopped recording.