Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili has condemned the alleged use of ethnic minorities to manipulate elections after a video surfaced showing a man dropping multiple ballots in a city largely populated by ethnic Azeris.
On Saturday, Georgians cast their votes in a parliamentary election depicted by both sides as an existential battle that will determine whether the country integrates closely with the West or leans back towards Moscow.
The vote pits the ruling Georgian Dream party, in power since 2012, against four main blocs representing the pro-Western opposition.
The incident, mentioned by Zourabichvili, reportedly took place in Marneuli, a southern Georgian city predominantly inhabited by Azeris.
“...Very immoral to use an ethnic minority to rig the elections,” Zourabichvili wrote on X, sharing a video that shows a man dropping a handful of ballots into a ballot box.
The Central Election Commission said that the Ministry of Internal Affairs has initiated an investigation into the matter.
According to media reports, the polling station in Marneuli did not employ electronic vote counting.
For the first time this year, 90% of votes cast in Georgian parliamentary elections will be counted electronically.
At the close of the election, devices will print preliminary voting results. Votes will also be counted manually, and the final results will be based on these manual counts.
As of noon (GMT 0800) the voter turnout stood at 22%.
Polling stations will remain open until 8 p.m. local time (GMT 1600).
Observers have also reported additional incidents and violations at polling stations, including instances of physical violence.
Commenting on such reports, Zourabichvili said: “Violence is occurring at various locations, journalists’ equipment has been broken. Groups have gathered to escalate the situation.”
The president urged the interior ministry to ensure that police respond more swiftly and effectively, adding that such tensions at polling stations cannot be allowed.
She also said that she was unable to get in touch with the interior minister.
The vote pits the ruling Georgian Dream party, in power since 2012, against four main blocs representing the pro-Western opposition.
The incident, mentioned by Zourabichvili, reportedly took place in Marneuli, a southern Georgian city predominantly inhabited by Azeris.
“...Very immoral to use an ethnic minority to rig the elections,” Zourabichvili wrote on X, sharing a video that shows a man dropping a handful of ballots into a ballot box.
Voting at the polling station was subsequently halted, reported Georgia’s private news agency, the InterpressNews.Shame shame and very immoral to use an ethnic minority to rigg the elections https://t.co/XMMjUyUTjA
— Salome Zourabichvili (@Zourabichvili_S) October 26, 2024
The Central Election Commission said that the Ministry of Internal Affairs has initiated an investigation into the matter.
According to media reports, the polling station in Marneuli did not employ electronic vote counting.
For the first time this year, 90% of votes cast in Georgian parliamentary elections will be counted electronically.
At the close of the election, devices will print preliminary voting results. Votes will also be counted manually, and the final results will be based on these manual counts.
As of noon (GMT 0800) the voter turnout stood at 22%.
Polling stations will remain open until 8 p.m. local time (GMT 1600).
Reports of violence
Observers have also reported additional incidents and violations at polling stations, including instances of physical violence.
Commenting on such reports, Zourabichvili said: “Violence is occurring at various locations, journalists’ equipment has been broken. Groups have gathered to escalate the situation.”
The president urged the interior ministry to ensure that police respond more swiftly and effectively, adding that such tensions at polling stations cannot be allowed.
She also said that she was unable to get in touch with the interior minister.
Crackdown on foreign journalists
On Saturday, Swiss photojournalist Stephan Goss, who had arrived to cover the parliamentary elections, was denied entrance on arrival at the Tbilisi airport, and subsequently deported to Dubai.
Following the incident, Goss, who is accredited by the International Federation of Journalists, wrote on X: “On arrival my passport had clearly been flagged. They took it, I waited for 1.5h and then got paperwork saying I was denied entry and was being deported.”
Earlier this week, Georgian authorities also denied entry to Czech journalist Ray Baseley, who, after 34 hours of illegal detention at Tbilisi airport, flew to Warsaw on Thursday.I tried to enter Georgia (the country, not the state) to photograph the election. I’m an @IFJGlobal accredited journalist. On arrival my passport had clearly been flagged. They took it, I waited for 1.5h and then got paperwork saying I was denied entry and was being deported. pic.twitter.com/qR88peLg78
— Stephan Goss (@GossStephan) October 26, 2024
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