Georgian Central Election Commission says OSCE resolution misused to discredit electoral administration

The Central Election Commission (CEC) of Georgia on Monday released a statement asserting that stakeholders were using an OSCE resolution to discredit the electoral administration and undermine the overall electoral process.

In a statement, the Commission noted that although neither the OSCE/ODIHR report on the 2024 parliamentary elections nor the OSCE resolution mentioned election fraud, certain individuals continued to spread manipulative claims in the media, falsely asserting that the “elections were rigged”, adding that the OSCE resolution confirms this.

“The OSCE resolution, like the OSCE/ODIHR final report, refers only to certain violations - not to election fraud. If we examine reports from elections held in various countries, we will clearly see that references to irregularities or shortcomings are common; however, what matters is that these do not affect the outcome”, the statement said.

“In Georgia, the identified shortcomings had no impact on the main issue - the will of the voters and the final results. Notably, the public itself, via media, heard the OSCE Secretary General’s statement at the Assembly affirming that the election results reflected the will of the people”, the Election Commission continued.

The CEC further emphasised that the opinions on the elections reflected in the OSCE resolution contradicted the findings of the OSCE/ODIHR report.

“We remind the public of the OSCE/ODIHR’s conclusion, which assessed the conduct of election day at over 90 percent of polling stations positively. It highlighted that 99 percent of electronic voting machines functioned properly, and their results matched those of the manual count. The transparency policy and several initiatives undertaken by the CEC were evaluated positively. The process of forming the voters’ list was described as inclusive, and most observers raised no significant concerns about its accuracy. The elections were competitive, and party registration by the CEC was conducted in an inclusive manner”, the Commission noted.

“The CEC acknowledged that the OSCE/ODIHR report expressed some concerns and provided recommendations related to certain aspects of the electoral process, which is standard in many countries and characteristic of electoral practice. However, none of the remarks call into question the legitimacy of the elections, particularly in the absence of any mention of election fraud”, the statement said.

The CEC added that all of this confirmed once again that certain politicians were acting solely based on their own political agendas, using OSCE reports to manipulate and mislead the public.

The Commission further responded to recent remarks by Nino Lomjaria, stating that her claim about alleged fraud in the 2024 parliamentary elections aims to mislead the public and discredit the electoral process.
Lomjaria observed the elections on behalf of the monitoring organisation My Voice, which, according to the CEC, spread multiple disinformation campaigns after the elections.

“The organisation alleged instances of multiple voting without providing any credible or verifiable evidence”, the CEC added.

“Serious accusations must be supported by convincing and verifiable evidence, which was not - and could not have been - provided in this case. Thus, the actions of the organisation exceeded the boundaries of objective observation and served not to improve the electoral process, but rather to influence public opinion and spread disinformation”, the statement continued.

The CEC reiterated its willingness to cooperate with any organisation that operates impartially, legally, and objectively. At the same time, it strongly condemned any attempt to deliberately discredit democratic processes and undermine the legitimacy of election results.

“The election administration will not leave any baseless accusation unanswered and will continue to provide the public with verified and objective information”, the statement concluded.