On October 30th, Georgia concluded the second round of its nationwide municipal elections, a historic milestone marking the seventh consecutive free and fair election that has been widely welcomed by international observers as well administered and competitive.
As a result of the Constitutional (in 2019) and electoral reforms (in 2020 & 2021) passed by the governing Georgian Dream party, both rounds of the elections were vigorously fought by the most diverse multi-party slate ever assembled in Georgian elections. Even amidst the challenge of Covid-19, voters turned out in sizeable numbers for both the first and second rounds.
The results clearly highlighting the will of the voters. In the first round of voting on October 2nd, the ruling Georgian Dream (GD) party won 46.65% with the United National Movement (UNM) coming in second with 30.5% followed by Gakharia-For Georgia with 7.8%. While final election certification has not been concluded, the second round of voting also showed GD candidates winning the majority of runoff seats including in the self-governing cities of Tbilisi, Kutaisi, Batumi, Rustavi and Poti. Opposition candidate was able to hold its first round advantage and win a mayoral race in Tsalenjikha, a small most township in Western Georgia.
The Georgian Parliament instituted the series of reforms that were in line with the key recommendations of the OSCE/ODIHR and the Venice Commission and governed both election rounds. Over 300 international organizations were invited to witness and observe both elections.
International organizations like the OSCE/ODIHR had described the first election as “competitive and technically well-administered,” and that “The legal framework is generally conducive to democratic elections and preparation for the elections were transparent and professionally managed.”
The second round of voting was similarly well administered and allowed for a competitive environment for all political parties. The OSCE/ODIHR and the European Parliament in their joint report had found that, “The second round of the local elections was generally well administered” and that, “Candidates were generally able to campaign freely.”
The U.S. Embassy in Georgia further expressed that “We share ODIHR’s assessment that the elections were generally calm and well-administered” and that “Some of the reforms enacted by Georgia’s political leaders through an inclusive, multiparty process earlier this year, such as automatic recounts and electronic vote counting, largely succeeded in increasing the transparency of the voting process.”
With all of the votes counted and with the elections being conducted in a “professional and transparent manner,” the leaders of the governing Georgian Dream party praised the citizens for fulfilling their civic duty by voting, and the parties for participating in lively elections.
Now that the second round has concluded, the governing leaders are calling on all parties and members of society to stand by the hard-earned accomplishments of Georgian democracy and to respect the electoral outcome. It is now time for the Georgian parties and society to come together as a united Georgia so that the country may move forward in its Euro-Atlantic future and towards the 2024 application for full European Union membership.