PS Commission Members were hostile towards independent observers

In the Polling Station No 12 in Marneuli Election District No 22, Sabirkendi village, the HRC election monitor was not allowed to see the bulletins when commission members were counting the votes. She tried to video-record this fact when the Precinct Election Commission (PEC) member Sabina Mamedova approached her and said she did not have right to observe the process from the distance from where she could see bulletins. The PEC member hit her on the hand and tried to make her drop the phone. 

The HRC observer lodged complaint about the behavior of Sabina Mamedova and requested her disciplinary punishment but the PEC secretary refused to register her complaint. The observer informed the PEC chairperson about the fact and he also refused to register the complaint. Furthermore, the chairman threatened the observer to write complaint against her, claiming that she had touched him (that never happened) and other PEC members could also confirm it. When HRC observer was writing the complaint, the observer from another independent election monitoring organization wrote her contact details in the respective chart for the witness and confirmed readiness to prove the allegations of the HRC observer. Regardless many attempts, the PEC did not register the complaint with regard to the disciplinary punishment of the PEC member. 

The PEC members were hostile towards the independent observers. The PEC chairperson said “he was fed up” with the activities of the observers in the precinct. 

In accordance with the assessment of Human Rights Center, violent incidents and violations, which were observed by HRC monitors in some polling stations during the polling process or were reported by various public sources, influenced the polling process during the October 26, 2024 Parliamentary Elections. 

https://www.hrc.ge/689/eng/ 

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