"My vote for the European Union": Ahead of elections in Georgia, NGOs establish a new monitoring mission
Parliamentary elections in Georgia: monitoring
Ahead of the parliamentary elections in Georgia, local NGOs have established a new monitoring mission called “My Vote for the European Union.” Currently, it comprises around 30 organizations. The platform allows any citizen of the country to become an election observer for the elections scheduled for October 26.
Citizens interested in monitoring the upcoming elections must register on the Wevote.ge website, after which mission representatives will contact them. Once they complete the necessary training, they will be assigned to various polling stations and districts.
In an interview with the TV channel “Formula,” former Georgian Ombudswoman Nino Lomjaria explained that the idea for the mission arose when the ruling party, “Georgian Dream,” passed the “foreign agents” law.
“Our goal and plan is to be present at all polling stations, of which there are over 3,000, including those abroad.
The belief that everything is decided before the elections and that election day itself changes nothing is a misconception. Manipulation occurs where there is no qualified, objective, and interested observer. In the presence of strong civil monitoring, such manipulations are prevented and exposed.
We—people and organizations united in this coalition—have experience observing such situations both in Georgia and abroad, and we know what can happen and how to safeguard against it,” Lomjaria said.
The primary task of the observers is to monitor what happens inside the polling stations. However, mobile groups are also planned, which will move around the electoral district and observe the situation outside the polling stations as well.
According to Nino Lomjaria, it is crucial for citizens living in the regions to participate in the monitoring mission.
