Interested parties are attempting to use the report prepared by the State Audit Office through manipulative statements to discredit the Central Election Commission (CEC), according to a statement issued by the CEC.

The CEC released a statement regarding the State Audit Office’s findings, explaining that the document does not identify any substantial violations, and that out of seven recommendations issued, six have already been implemented and one is largely implemented.

“As is known to the public, the State Audit Office conducted an audit of the financial and economic activities carried out by the Central Election Commission of Georgia in 2023–2024. The results were publicly published on the website on June 8, and on the same day, a hearing on the issue was held in the Parliamentary Finance and Budget Committee.

It should be noted that for the election administration, as an independent administrative body, the work of the State Audit Office and the recommendations issued to the CEC are of particular importance. This is an important working process in which the recommendations serve to further refine and improve procedures. We emphasize that the published document does not refer to any material violations, and for all issues there are appropriate explanations, which the agency has submitted to the Audit Office. Out of the seven recommendations received, six have already been implemented and one is largely implemented.

Despite this, interested parties are attempting to use the State Audit Office’s report to discredit the CEC through manipulative statements. Those authors of manipulative and discrediting claims would have simply needed to read the report on the implementation of recommendations, which was publicly discussed at the parliamentary Finance and Budget Committee session, and they would no longer have questions on the matter. However, their interest is not in clarifying the truth, but in damaging the election administration through various manipulative pieces of information.

The election administration will continue to inform voters only with verified information and will not leave any attempt to create false perceptions unanswered, regardless of where such attempts come from,” the CEC statement reads.

For context, the State Audit Office published a report on the financial and economic activities of the Central Election Commission (CEC) of Georgia for 2023–2024. According to the Office, the audit identified various shortcomings, including issues related to time tracking and salary calculations, bonus payments, procurement, travel expense reimbursements, asset management, internal control systems, and others.