We’re continuing our live coverage of the aftermath of Georgia’s parliamentary elections and the allegations of widespread fraud and rigging.

We’re ending our live coverage for today. Our team is currently working overtime to shine a light on what is happening in Georgia, as the country grasps with what appears to be a rigged election. You can help us in this mission by becoming an OC Media member. Your support helps us to continue this work.

You can read our on the ground report from election day from Iormughanlo, a remote village in eastern Georgia with a majority ethnic Azerbaijani population: ‘Whoever will pay more, I will observe for him’: the Georgian parliamentary elections in Iormughanlo

And our report from Abkhazia on how the elections are being seen there: Abkhazians follow Georgia’s elections closely, but quietly

Zourabichvili questions Prosecutor’s Office regarding their request for her testimony 

Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili has held a briefing at which she presented part of the evidence of electoral fraud that took place during Saturday’s parliamentary elections.

‘It turns out that the Prosecutor’s Office is waiting for evidence from me. I knew it was the other way around, that the investigative body had to find the evidence itself [...] in any normal country it happens like that. I don’t know of any such precedent for the investigative agency to ask the president for evidence [regarding] the election’, she said. 

Zourabichvili addressed the Prosecutor’s Office directly, saying that they are accountable to the people and that ‘no one expects the Prosecutor’s Office to start some clearly political processes against the president in this situation today’.

‘These political [processes] strangely coincide with the instructions issued by [Dmitry] Medvedev — I don’t know who is fulfilling [them] and who is not’, she said.

On Monday, Dmitry Medvedev, former Russian President and current Deputy Chair of Russia’s Security Council, suggested that Zourabichvili be removed from office and arrested, accusing her of failing to recognise Georgia’s parliamentary election results and ‘calling for a coup’.

The Prosecutor’s Office summoned Zourabichvili earlier today to give testimony tomorrow regarding her claims of election fraud, while at the same time announcing they were launching an investigation into such claims. 

The statement came hours after Georgia’s Central Election Commission (CEC) called on the agency to do so, and follows Georgian Dream leaders expressing their disapproval of calls for an ‘international’ investigation into the alleged electoral fraud.

The EU issues critical annual report on Georgia’s accession progress 

The European Commission has published its annual enlargement report, including on Georgia, noting ‘while EU integration remains a stated policy objective, reforms and some developments over the last year were not in line with this objective and limited political attention was mobilised by the government to progress on the EU agenda’.

The Commission emphasised that ‘Georgia’s authorities should clarify their intentions by reversing this course of action. Stronger cross-party political support in all decision-making state institutions is required to pursue EU-related reforms more effectively’. 

‘Georgia’s authorities also need to replace anti-EU narratives with proactive and objective communication about the EU and its support for the country’, the report read.

The Commission also highlighted the preliminary findings of the OSCE/ODIHR observer mission for the recent parliamentary elections in Georgia, which ‘identified several shortcomings that occurred in a tense and highly polarised environment’. 


‘The reported weaknesses include i.a. the recent legislative amendments to the election process, frequent compromises on vote secrecy, procedural inconsistencies, intimidation and pressure on voters that negatively impacted public trust in the process’, the statement read regarding last Saturday’s vote.

CEC finishes recounting results

Georgia’s Central Election Commission (CEC) spokesperson Natia Ioseliani has stated at a briefing that yesterday, the district election commissions, in accordance with the legislation, counted the results of 366 election precincts identified by lot. 

‘Out of 366 election precincts, the voting results remained unchanged in 334 election precincts, which is 91.25% of the recounted election precincts. In the remaining 32 election precincts, the data in the summary report was slightly changed’, she said.

Zakharova claims Russian journalist was harassed by protesters

On Wednesday, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova alleged that a correspondent for the Russian state-run news agency RIA Novosti was harassed by ‘supporters of the Georgian opposition’ outside the parliament building in Tbilisi the day prior.

According to reports by Russian state media agencies, the correspondent was allegedly chased by Georgian ‘provocateurs’ at a protest in Tbilisi after they overheard him speaking Russian. The ‘provocateurs’ then followed the correspondent and ‘harassed’ him by shouting ‘anti-Russian slogans’.

Zakharova described the incident as proof of interference in Russian journalists’ work, who she claimed ‘show all events as they really are’, as opposed to the narrative ‘preferred’ by the West.

Zelenskyi: ‘In Georgia, for today, Russia won’

In today’s press conference with foreign journalists, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi claimed that Russia had ‘won’ in Georgia. 

‘We have to recognise: In Georgia, for today, Russia won. First they took part of Georgia, then changed the policy, changed the government, and now they have [a] pro-Russian government, pro-Russian positions, no sanctions against Putin, and a lot of Russians in Georgia. Their choice is friendship with Russia. Their choice [is] not to go to [the] EU. They changed their position. Russia won for today in Georgia, they took their freedom away’, he claimed.

Zelenskyi added that Russia sought to do ‘the same’ in Moldova.

He did not clarify whether he was referring to the Georgian government in general or reacting specifically to the recent parliamentary election results.

UNM will not attend summons by Prosecutor’s Office

Representatives of the opposition group Unity — National Movement who observed the elections and filed complaints, have been summoned by the Prosecutor’s Office, Mtavari Arkhi reported. They cited a member of the United National Movement (UNM), Levan Antadze, who held a briefing in Batumi, Georgia’s second-largest city, located on the Black Sea. According to Antadze, the UNM members will not go to the Prosecutor’s Office and have agreed to only be  interrogated in the presence of a judge.

Saakashvili: ‘Even Belarusians have fought more actively than us to date’

Imprisoned former Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili has issued a warning to the Georgian public in a Facebook post, stating that ‘neither foreign countries nor our detailed reports [on the alleged election fraud] will achieve anything unless accompanied by a massive and sustained protest’.

While emphasising the importance of ‘uncovering the election rigging scheme,’ Saakashvili cautioned that international interest in the issue would gradually decline, and that the momentum needed to challenge the election results would fade without timely action.

‘We have said we are not like Belarusians or Venezuelans and would act more strongly; yet, in reality, we must acknowledge that even Belarusians have fought more actively than us to date. I say this with concern and pain, hoping the broad public protest movement will resume quickly’, read the post published by Saakashvili’s official Facebook page.

Saakashvili was evidently referring to the large-scale protests that erupted in Belarus in 2020 following a disputed presidential election.

Georgians alleging electoral fraud held a massive demonstration in Tbilisi on the night of 28 October, following a call from President Salome Zourabichvili, who was joined by all four major opposition groups that passed the electoral threshold. This was followed by a smaller student gathering last night.

We Vote demands annulment of results in 246 election precincts

The local election observer coalition We Vote has submitted a series of complaints to annul the results of 246 election precincts, where the number of registered voters is more than 417,000.

The group’s representative, Londa Toloraia, said at a press briefing that the complaints were about ‘gross violations’ of the ‘basic election principles’.

At the same time, the coalition stated that they ‘fully support’ the request of the Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association (GYLA) to invalidate the results of 2,263 precincts conducted using technology due to the violation of ballot secrecy.

Opposition leader criticises authorities for summoning Zourabichvili

Elene Khoshtaria, chair of the Droa! opposition party and a leader within the Coalition for Change alliance, has criticised the Georgian authorities for summoning President Salome Zourabichvili for an interview following her claims of election fraud.

‘Bidzina Ivanishvili is once again cornering himself and weakening himself by issuing absurd summonses at Medvedev's direction’, Khoshtaria claimed during her press briefing. 

On Monday, Dmitry Medvedev, former Russian President and current Deputy Chair of Russia’s Security Council, suggested that Zourabichvili be removed from office and arrested, accusing her of failing to recognise Georgia’s parliamentary election results and ‘calling for a coup’.

‘It should be Bidzina Ivanishvili summoned to the Prosecutor’s Office for betraying the country’, Khoshtaria added. 

A similar sentiment was expressed earlier today by the For Georgia party Deputy Chair and former Deputy Interior Minister, Natia Mezvrishvili, who directed a question to the Prosecutor’s Office: ‘When will you summon Ivanishvili for treason against the state?’

Strong Georgia, another opposition alliance, also condemned the summons, calling it ‘pressure’ on Zourabichvili and labelling it ‘absurd’, noting that the ‘Russian regime’s Prosecutor’s Office’ was now investigating a ‘Russian special operation’ — a reference to the alleged election fraud.

Kaladze claims Biden cannot evaluate election legitimacy

Tbilisi Mayor and Georgian Dream Secretary General Kakha Kaladze has stated that US President Joe Biden cannot judge the legitimacy of the government. 

‘Joe Biden cannot be an evaluator of the elections, as well as whether the government is legitimate or not. That is what the OSCE/ODIHR is assessing’, Kaladze told reporters.

 

GYLA seek to void votes cast at nearly 75% of polling stations

The Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association (GYLA) has announced that they filed complaints with district election commissions yesterday, requesting the annulment of results from all 2,263 polling stations in districts ‘where [new] technologies were used’, citing a mass violation of ballot secrecy.

GYLA cited two main issues compromising secrecy of the vote: video cameras installed by the ruling Georgian Dream party at polling stations and poor quality of ballot papers, which sometimes revealed voters’ choices on the reverse side. GYLA claimed that they had informed the CEC of this paper quality issue before election day, and that, despite promises, the issue was not addressed.

CEC warns against hate speech

Georgia’s Central Election Commission (CEC) has ‘warned everyone’ that due to ‘pressure on the election administration’, any phone calls or messages that are in violation of the law will be forwarded to the relevant authorities for further action.

At the briefing, the spokesperson of the CEC, Natia Ioseliani, said that insults, bullying, and the use of hate speech addressed to the CEC have an intense character on social networking sites as well, presenting screenshots of messages written by citizens on social networks.

Gvaramia: ‘the street is the only place where the fate of the state is decided’

The leader of the opposition group Coalition for Change, Nika Gvaramia, has posted on Facebook saying that ‘the street is the only place where the fate of the state is decided, in a situation where all other democratic institutions are hijacked’.

‘The street does not equal violence. The street is equal to the dominance of people’s opinion and the return of democracy and the state by the people when it is taken from you’, he wrote.

Deputy Chair of the Marneuli City Council claims ballot stuffing was a ‘well-planned provocation by the opposition’

According to Radio Marneuli, the Deputy Chair of the Marneuli City Council, Rovshan Isgandarov, has alleged that his actions in stuffing a ballot box, as seen in video footage from the 69th election precinct in Sadakhlo, ‘was a well-planned provocation by the opposition’.

According to local media, Isgandarov stated that his goal was not to falsify the elections and that ‘representatives of the opposition are deliberately distorting and disseminating video material taken out of context’.

‘[Representatives of the opposition] did not allow the potential voters of the Georgian Dream to place the ballot in the box, and they (the representatives of the opposition) held these ballots in their hands, which more than one person witnessed’, he said. ‘I couldn’t contain my emotions and got angry and took the ballots out of their hands and put them in the ballot box. So my goal was not an attempt to falsify the elections, but it was a well-planned provocation by the opposition’.

After the incident, voting was suspended in the 69th precinct.

Local media watchdog says election created a hostile and unsafe environment for journalists

The local watchdog Media Ombudsman has reported that the elections on 26 October created a hostile and unsafe environment for journalists, marked by ‘aggression, pressure, threats, and interference in their professional duties’. The group documented 30 cases of media rights violations from 25-26 October, impacting a total of 50 media workers, including six working for OC Media. 

As noted in the report, in Tbilisi, OC Media’s Hermine Virabian was denied permission to film the vote-counting process; at polling station No. 11 in Nakhiduri village, Bolnisi Municipality, OC Media’s Rafig Shahbazov was refused entry; and in Telavi’s polling station No. 8 in the Kakheti region, reporter Tekla Chkhaidze was prevented from taking photos and videos.

Additionally, the Media Ombudsman reported that at polling station No. 11 in Mtskheta, officials unlawfully restricted OC Media’s Zeynab Isgandarova’s ability to film. In another instance, OC Media’s Kristina Kvachantiradze was contacted by an individual named Giorgi Mgeladze, who demanded the faces of those in her footage be blurred.

At polling station No. 34 in Iormughanlo village, OC Media journalist Aytan Farhadova was forced to delete a photo, had her phone confiscated, and was threatened with damage to her device. She regained her phone only after deleting the image, which documented voter coordination.

The Media Ombudsman reported that law enforcement and electoral authorities often failed to address these issues, despite notifications from media workers. In some cases, polling station commission chairs unlawfully barred journalists from entering or even ‘threatened them with expulsion from the premises’.

The group also highlighted ‘aggressive groups associated’ with the ruling Georgian Dream party reportedly stationed near polling sites as a source of ‘physical and verbal abuse, including insults’ against journalists, with some media workers saying they were forced to halt election coverage and leave ‘due to safety concerns’.

Mdinaradze claims Georgian Dream voters were registered as observers and unable to vote

The Executive Secretary of the ruling Georgian Dream party, Mamuka Mdinaradze, has said at a briefing held at the party’s office that they have ‘already several facts’ when, according to him, a Georgian Dream voter ‘arrived at the polling station and was not on the list’.

‘As it turned out, they were registered as observers at election precincts in some [other] region’, claimed Mdinaradze.

‘Let’s say, I went to my polling station in Tbilisi to support a particular party and found myself registered as an observer in Tskaltubo [western Georgia]’, he said, claiming that opposition parties registered these people.

‘If we are talking about stealing votes, we will investigate this to the end and we will determine to the end who registered these people, our supporters, as observers of the opposition parties’.

Georgian Dream: Biden ‘ultimately recognised and legitimised’ Georgian elections

Georgian Dream’s Executive Secretary Mamuka Mdinaradze has claimed that US President Joe Biden’s statement on the conduct of Saturday’s parliamentary vote should be seen as a ‘critical recognition’ of its legitimacy.

‘There was some reference to some “concerning reports” and other points, but ultimately, it was a recognition and legitimisation of the Georgian elections,’ Mdinaradze was reported as saying.

So far, only officials from Armenia, Azerbaijan, Russia, Turkey, Hungary, China, and Venezuela have congratulated or commented positively on Georgia’s parliamentary elections and the subsequent election results.

Prosecutor’s Office summons Zourabichvili as they launch probe into alleged election fraud

Georgia’s Prosecutor’s Office has summoned President Salome Zourabichvili to give testimony tomorrow regarding her claims of election fraud, while at the same time announcing they are launching an investigation into such claims. The statement came hours after Georgia’s Central Election Commission (CEC) called on the agency to do so, and follows Georgian Dream leaders expressing their disapproval of calls for an ‘international’ investigation into the alleged electoral fraud.

Biden: Georgian government must ‘​​transparently investigate all election irregularities’

US President Joe Biden described Georgia’s parliamentary elections as ‘marred by numerous recorded misuses of administrative resources as well as voter intimidation and coercion’, calling on the Georgian government to ‘transparently investigate all election irregularities’ and ‘to begin an immediate, inclusive dialogue with all political forces in Georgia about restoring election integrity’.

He also noted that he was ‘deeply alarmed by the country’s recent democratic backsliding’, citing the adoption of legislation ‘mirroring Russian laws that restrict fundamental freedoms’ and called on the government to repeal the ‘Foreign Influence Law’.

Key events from yesterday

• The Central Election Commission (CEC) called for an investigation into widespread allegations of electoral fraud in Saturday’s parliamentary elections.
• Opposition groups called on the CEC to create an online public database of voters who participated in the elections so that citizens can verify for themselves who voted.
• Around 100 people marched from Tbilisi State University to parliament yesterday evening. 
• President Salome Zourabichvili faced criticism for referring to schemes allegedly used to rig the elections as an ‘Armenian carousel’.
• US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller stated that the US was consulting with its European partners regarding what an appropriate body to investigate election irregularities in Georgia’s elections would be. He did not specify whether the investigating body should be Georgian.
• Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán claimed the election results were ‘indisputable’ following a meeting with his Georgian counterpart Irakli Kobakhidze.
• Turkey, China, and Venezuela joined Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Russia in congratulating Kobakhidze on Georgian Dream’s electoral victory