Fair Elections: Tbilisi City and Appellate Courts upheld the CEC’s resolution, which significantly restricts election observation

According to Fair Elections (ISFED), the Tbilisi City Court and Tbilisi Appellate Court have upheld the Central Election Commission’s (CEC) resolution that "significantly restricts election observation."

The case concerns changes made to the resolution "On Defining the Rules and Conditions for Conducting Voting Using Electronic Means."

ISFED is calling on the CEC to revoke the "problematic amendments" introduced by the resolution.

Under the new changes adopted by the CEC, persons authorized to be present at the polling station, including observers from monitoring organizations, are completely prohibited from requesting to see voters' identity documents. This kind of restriction is not foreseen by the Election Code, and therefore, the amendment contradicts the law. Such a limitation may significantly hinder the identification of so-called "carousel" voting schemes, as well as cases of multiple voting, voting with fake or improper documents.

On April 4, ISFED challenged the resolution in the Tbilisi City Court, which did not satisfy the organization’s claim. On April 8, the Tbilisi Appellate Court also rejected the appeal.

ISFED is urging the CEC to revoke the problematic amendments adopted through the resolution, the statement says.