Three prominent Georgian election observation organizations—the International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy (ISFED), the Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association (GYLA), and Transparency International Georgia (TI)—have issued a critical assessment of proposed amendments to the country’s Electoral Code. In their view, the changes will undermine the verifiability of election results, restrict judicial oversight, and further centralize electoral administration.
Under the amendments, appealing the final summary protocol of election results issued by the Central Election Commission (CEC) will be allowed only on strictly limited grounds and confined to technical errors; the mandatory ballot recount is set to be abolished; and decisions regarding the accreditation of election observer organizations will be made unilaterally.
According to the NGOs, this will further weaken already inadequate oversight mechanisms and accelerate the centralization of election management. Moreover, additional procedural restrictions and bans related to campaign advertising will deteriorate the conditions for participating in the electoral process and diminish political competition.
The organizations expressed particular alarm over a provision permitting judicial challenges to the CEC’s final election summary protocol solely for the purpose of correcting mechanical or technical errors.
“Such a restriction at the stage of finalizing election results excludes the possibility of challenging systemic violations and their cumulative impact on the outcome of the vote. Meanwhile, the systemic nature and scope of certain violations can only come to light through a comprehensive analysis of data across multiple polling stations and the electoral process as a whole.
Consequently, the ability to contest outcomes only at individual polling stations cannot substitute for comprehensive judicial review of the final results. The proposed amendment severely curtails and weakens guarantees for the effective protection of electoral rights,” the joint assessment reads.
The explanatory note to the bill reveals that the legislative initiative was preceded by neither public discussion nor preliminary consultations with relevant stakeholders, including the election administration itself.
The observer groups emphasized that overhauling electoral legislation without broad professional and public consensus has become an entrenched, harmful practice of the ruling Georgian Dream party in recent years. This directly contradicts the standards of the Council of Europe’s Venice Commission, which state that electoral reforms must be grounded in transparency, predictability, and inclusive dialogue.