Tbilisi, 23 October 2017 – Yesterday, an Electoral Assessment Mission of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe has been concluded by a joint press conference with OSCE/ODIHR in Tbilisi (Georgia). The Delegation was composed of the two Thematic Spokespersons of the Congress on election observation, Stewart DICKSON (United Kingdom, ILDG) and Jos WIENEN (Netherlands, EPP-CCE) , and Vice-President Barbara TOCE (Italy, SOC) and it joined forces with the Election Observation Mission deployed by OSCE-ODIHR in order to evaluate the local elections held on 21 October in Georgia.
Presenting the preliminary conclusions from the perspective of the Congress, Stewart Dickson confirmed that the electoral procedures were followed carefully by the electoral commissions in the large majority of the 30 polling stations visited by the three teams of the Congress. “However, it appears that there was some confusion in certain polling stations about the collection of information by domestic observers, or rather party proxies, with regard to individuals who had cast their vote", he stated. He also drew the attention of the Georgian authorities to the misuse of public resources during the campaign which seemed to be of specific relevance at the local level.
Concerning the Georgian law that currently allows voters who are registered at a permanent or a temporary address to cast a ballot in local elections, DICKSON referred to Congress Recommendation 369 (2015) which provides that only voters who are permanently residing in a specific municipality should be enfranchised at the local level. “We would welcome if the Georgian authorities could take this into consideration for future reforms and this would also complement their efforts to establish the accuracy of voters' lists which is very welcome by the Congress”, he added.
In addition, he mentioned the situation of local self-government in Georgia which was at the center of these elections. “Decentralisation and the strengthening of municipalities and regions are still in the early stages of development, all the more it's important for Georgia to develop the capacities of local authorities and continue decentralisation also in terms of financial devolution”, DICKSON concluded and underlined the willingness of the Congress to further support the Georgian authorities in their endeavours.
Speech by Stewart DICKSON, on behalf of the Congress Electoral Assessment Mission to Georgia
Webcast press conference - the OSCE/ODIHR website
Observing local and regional elections is one of the action priorities of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities. This activity complements the political monitoring of the European Charter of Local Self-Government, which constitutes the cornerstone of local and regional democracy in Europe. It contributes to ensuring the integrity of elections and building voters’ confidence at grassroots’ level. Since 1990, the Congress has conducted about 100 election observation missions in some of the 47 Council of Europe member states and beyond.
Contacts:
Renate ZIKMUND, Congress of Local and Regional Authorities, Head of the Division of Local and Regional Election Observation, Phone: + 33 659 786 455, email: [email protected]
