On October 11, 2024, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) issued the interim findings of its election observation mission in Georgia. OSCE/ODIHR studied various elements of Georgia’s political environment and elections administration ahead of the October 26 parliamentary elections and noted Georgia’s efforts to secure its elections.
In recent years, the Government of Georgia has implemented a reform agenda to bring Georgia’s elections legislation and administration in-line with European standards, especially as the country holds its first national elections after securing EU candidate status. The OSCE/ODIHR report highlighted Georgia’s openness to international accountability and transparency through independent election observation missions. Georgia has invited election observers from NATO PA, PACE, OSCE PA, and the European Parliament, in addition to OSCE/ODIHR and local observers. The National Democratic Institute and International Republican Institute observation missions are present on the ground as well.
OSCE/ODIHR’s team of observers underscored various steps the Government has taken to modernize and strengthen its elections administration, noting “many ODIHR [election observation mission] interlocutors expressed trust in the administration’s technical and organizational capacities.” The report praised Georgia’s introduction of electronic voting procedures and identity verification, its new voter education campaign, and its efforts to bring minority groups and women into the political process.
The Government of Georgia is confident that the 2024 parliamentary elections will be deemed fair and transparent.
View the election fact-sheet here.
As of October 22, according to the Central Election Commission, 76 international observer groups (with 1,544 observers) and 110 local citizen organizations are accredited to observe the October 26 election. The election administration has completed its work on the unified voter list with the total number of voters reaching 3,508,294.