CEC releases summary information on October 3 by-elections

By-elections to the municipal councils of Vani, Tsalka, Dmanisi and Akhmeta will be held on October 3.

According to the Central Election Commission (CEC), CEC Press Speaker Natia Ioseliani held a briefing today regarding the upcoming elections.

Ioseliani said the by-elections will be conducted under the majoritarian system.

“Voters will elect four majoritarian members of the municipal councils in the respective municipalities. A total of seven polling stations have been opened across the four electoral districts for the by-elections, including four in Tsalka.

“To remind you, polling stations have been opened in Akhmeta, in the village of Kasriskali; in Dmanisi, between the villages of Velispiri and Ganakhleba; in Tsalka, in the villages of Imera, Bareti, Sabichisi and Livadi; and in Vani, in the village of Phereta. Both electronic and traditional voting models will be used.

“Electronic voter verification and vote-counting machines will be used at three polling stations in Tsalka and at the polling station in Vani.

“The total number of registered voters is 2,225. Fifty voters have applied to the election administration to use mobile ballot boxes.

“Seven majoritarian candidates nominated by two political parties are registered for the elections. In Dmanisi, Tsalka and Vani, candidates nominated by Georgian Dream and Strong Georgia – Lelo are registered, while in Akhmeta only a Georgian Dream candidate is registered.

“Seven local organizations with 56 observers will monitor the electoral process, while 187 representatives of eight media organizations will cover the elections.

“Let me also remind you of the voting procedures: voting will take place from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. Voters must bring a Georgian ID card or Georgian passport to the polling station.

“At polling stations where electronic voting is used, along with the ballot paper, the registrar will provide the voter with a special ballot sleeve of the designated format. Voters at electronic polling stations must use a special marker to fill in or mark the inside of the circle next to only one candidate of their choice. Using the special sleeve, the voter must then place the ballot into the vote-counting machine through the slot beneath the cover.

“The vote-counting machine automatically counts the votes and, after voting ends and the mandatory procedures are completed, prints a preliminary results report. The report will be sent to the CEC via tablet. The data will also be available to anyone interested on the website results.cec.gov.ge.

“At three polling stations, voting will be conducted using the traditional method. However, ballots at these stations will be scanned and digitized, uploaded to a secure platform, and made available to all interested parties.

“Voting is secret. Photography and video recording are prohibited inside the voting booth.

“Throughout the day, the CEC contact hub will operate at 2 51 00 51. The media center will also operate continuously, allowing media representatives and parties involved in the electoral process to receive information on matters of interest to them,” Natia Ioseliani said.