GYLA: The voting procedure was held without any substantial violations

The voting procedure was held without any substantial violations, - said Sulkhan Saladze, Chairman of the Georgians Young Lawyers Association (GYLA).

“By 20:00, based on information provided by GYLA observers, the voting procedure was held without any substantial violations. However, the negative tendency of the first half of the day has been maintained - the charged environment in Zugdidi district and control of voters’ will throughout all other districts, which was caused by the coordinators and supporters, being mobilized at the adjacent territories around the polling stations.

In Zugdidi electoral district, throughout the entire day, various incidents were revealed at different polling stations and adjacent territories – between supporters of political parties. In this context, the words o fthe leader of the United National Movement – Mikheil Saakashvili are concerning, as they cause further escalation of the situation. Ex-president, in his statement, also belittles the role of the observer organizations.

The detention of the journalist/editor of online news agency Presa.ge – Mr. Giorgi Kapanadze in Zugdidi district is particularly notable. As confirmed by the widespread footage, there were no legal grounds for his detention, while the actions of the police have reflected exceeding one’s authority and require further examination.

According to the information, provided by GYLA observer, in Tskaltubo, where electronic vote count is being tested, technical problems remain, causing temporary suspension of voting process in 2 polling stations.

After 14:00, GYLA applied to the electrion administration with one complaint, relating to the repeated voting at the polling station #83 of the Zugdidi district (in total GYLA has applied with complaints on 7 violations in total)”, Saladze said.

GYLA observers remain deployed at the relevant polling stations and continue to observe the voting process.

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