Military Servants from Other Regions Voted for the Single Mandate Candidate in Rustavi at the So-called Close Polling Stations

Manon Bokuchava, Kvemo Kartli

On May 30, we were waiting for the permission to enter the polling station # 87 in Rustavi for one and half hour. It was so-called closed polling station which was located in the territory of the prison # 2 in Mshenebli Street, Rustavi.

The commission chairman Otar Nozadze told the observer journalists that we needed permission of the penitentiary department to enter the PS. The correspondent of the magazine “Liberal” Maia Tsiklauri and observer of the newspaper “Rustavi News” Gia Mazmishvili were with us. We called the coordinator of the election monitoring project of the Human Rights Center Nino Abaishvili and the military expert Irakli Sesiashvili who told us that there were no particular rules for the closed polling stations and we could enter them without any permits. We also got in touch with the spokesperson of the CEC Juli Giorgadze who promised to help us.

Finally, we were allowed into the so-called precinct ten minutes before the Election Day finished. The observer of the monitoring organization Fair Elections Bezhan Mchedlidze told us that he did not face any problems to enter the PS and worked there since the morning. He said that there were no violations observed at the precinct. However, we saw a complaint of the Christian-Democrat Party in the record book. We asked the representative of the Christian-Democrat Party to explain to us what they complained about; he said there was nothing important and did not want to speak with us. Later we found out that they argued about one issue – the military personnel of the prison, who are not local residents, voted for the single mandate of Rustavi.

We took photos of every page in the registration journal. Since the polling station was about to close and the box was to be sealed up, we could not check the journal at the place. Later, we found out that the residents of different regions of Georgia voted for the single mandate candidates in Rustavi regardless of their residential areas. The addresses were: village Ude (Samtskhe-Javakheti region); Gladni settlement, 3rd micro district, block 88th, Tbilisi; village Martkopi; village Orbeti, etc.

At the same PS we saw the video-camera installed under the swallow nest; though commission members did not know about the camera; they learned about it only after we inquired.

We observed the counting process at the polling station # 59 in Rustavi where the ballot box from the abovementioned military polling station was taken to with our accompany. The votes of both precincts were counted together and the results were also common. The observer of the National Movement Koba Dzlierashvili protested against our working with photo-cameras. He was head of the Architect and Urban Planning Service at the Rustavi City Hall. He was on holiday during the elections.

“Do not take my photo; you do not have right to do this against my wish,” said Dzlierashvili. Commission member from the political party By Ourselves Mamuka Sukhashvili followed him: “Do not take my photo; I have to count ballot papers and flash-light of your camera hinders me.”

I was going to leave the PS if the situation got tenser; however, the members of the district election commission arrived at the place and clarified to the precinct commission members that I had right to take photo of any person who was at the PS despite his/her wish.