ECHR begins examining complaints over Georgia’s parliamentary elections
ECHR to examine case over elections in Georgia
The European Court of Human Rights has begun examining a case over alleged mass violations of ballot secrecy during Georgia’s 2024 parliamentary elections.
The Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association (GYLA), acting as an independent election observer, pursued the issue in all electoral districts and courts across Georgia.
The organisation won a case only in Tetritskaro. An appeal later overturned that ruling after a 23-hour court hearing.
The Strasbourg-based court must now decide whether authorities violated ballot secrecy and the right to a fair trial.
The case under consideration in Strasbourg could significantly affect current political and legal processes in Georgia. It focuses on alleged breaches of ballot secrecy involving electronic voting technologies and limits on the right to effective judicial review of electoral disputes.
Details
According to the Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association, its application to the European Court of Human Rights argues that election authorities carried out widespread violations of the fundamental principle of ballot secrecy during the voting period. The complaint also says that provisions in Georgian law restrict citizens’ ability to challenge election violations and do not meet the standards of the European Convention on Human Rights.
As an election monitoring organisation, GYLA filed complaints with all district election commissions over breaches of ballot secrecy caused by the improper use of electronic technologies. The complaints covered results from 2,263 polling stations where authorities used electronic voting technologies.
Courts and district election commissions rejected the complaints. The only exception came from a district court ruling in Tetritskaro. The Tbilisi Court of Appeal later overturned that decision.
On 4 November 2024, judge Vladimir Khuchua invalidated the results from electronic polling stations in Tetritskaro and Tsalka. He said violations of ballot secrecy occurred during electronic voting. Former public defender Nino Lomjaria said similar violations took place at 30 polling stations.
The European Court of Human Rights will now assess whether the right to free and secret voting was protected at polling stations where electronic technologies were used. It will also examine whether an insufficient number of polling stations abroad restricted the right to vote.
The court has set 15 May 2026 as the deadline for the state to submit its position.
According to the Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association, the Strasbourg-based court accepted the case for substantive review within an unusually short timeframe, underlining its priority status.
On parliamentary elections
After the parliamentary elections held on 26 October 2024, Georgia entered a new and fundamentally different reality.
The ruling party, Georgian Dream, claimed almost 54% of the vote. This figure stands about 12 percentage points higher than exit poll results. Neither domestic observers nor the international community consider the outcome credible.
Observers and experts documented thousands of violations and alleged fraud schemes. These findings cast serious doubt on the election results both inside Georgia and abroad.
The international community does not recognise the outcome and questions its legitimacy. The only European leader to acknowledge the parliamentary elections was Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán.
ECHR to examine case over elections in Georgia
