Tbilisi, January 2, 2008
In October-November, 2007 the election administration of Georgia conducted the door-to-door campaign to verify voters’ lists in 75 election districts throughout the country. International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy’s (ISFED) monitored the implementation of abovementioned process. Below is presented the monitoring results.
Special Groups’ Recruitment Process
On 11 September 2007, the Central Election Commission (CEC) adopted a resolution to create special groups in order to verify and improve the voters’ list. The special groups were designed to check the voters’ data through a door-to-door campaign throughout Georgia.
According to ISFED monitoring results, some special groups did not have the desired number of members. According to the CEC decision, each group was supposed to have a minimum of five members and a maximum of nine members. The members of the special groups were selected by the DEC as well as appointed by political parties. The three political parties that had the best results in the last parliamentary elections had the right to appoint two representatives each (National Movement – Democrats, Industry will Save Georgia and Labor Party of Georgia). However, Industry will Save Georgia and Labor Party of Georgia did not produce the sufficient number of representatives. As a result, not all special groups were composed of nine members.
From September 17 to September 24, each District Election Commission (DEC) received applications for the membership of special groups. Following the submission of applications, DECs were in charge of conducting the selection process of the special group members. By September 29, the election administration had already completed the recruitment process. As a result, 3000 special groups were created throughout the whole country.
Special Groups’ Trainings
According to the CEC project, the training schedule for the election administration was as follows: CEC members conducted trainings on the methodology of the door-to-door campaign to the DEC Chairmen; the DEC Chairmen trained the Chairmen of the special groups and those special group Chairmen were supposed to train in turn the rest of the special group members. At the same time, the CEC together with the Civil Register Agency drafted the protocols designed for the deceased voters and other special forms and instructions. Special group members were supposed to use such documents as guidelines while carrying out the door-to-door campaign. However, the instructions prepared by the CEC did not cover all of the important obstacles/details that special groups encountered later during the implementation process.
Unfortunately, not every special group Chairman was trained. Thus, they were not comprehensively informed on the methodology of the door-to-door canvassing of voters’ list. Such Chairmen could not properly train other special group members on the door-to-door campaign. In most of the cases, the training was composed of only distributed instructions and other necessary documentations to the special group members. In the light of the abovementioned, important details were unfortunately lost while delivering information to the lower level. Improper trainings had the negative impact on the quality of verifying the voters’ data through the door-to-door campaign.
Logistics
ISFED observed problems related to logistics while the election administration was carrying out the door-to-door campaign. Special group members were not provided with all of the materials necessary for effective implementation of the project. More specifically, in some cases the special instructions drafted by the CEC that described the verification process of voters’ lists were not delivered to all special group members. Additionally, special groups were not provided with the sufficient number of copies of the voters’ lists of the relevant precincts. Each group was given only two copies of the list. It should be mentioned that special group members were split into mini-groups to the check the voters’ data. Since each mini-group did not have the list of voters, they could not then make the corrections and additions directly onto the voters’ list. The mini-groups had to make notes on the separate pieces of paper and later, based on that feedback, the data were corrected in the voters’ list of the precinct. Multiple entrances of data may have caused additional inaccuracies.
Another obstacle that interrupted the effective conduct of the door-to-door campaign was the split of the voters’ list according to the alphabetical order among the special group members. So each member of the group had only a piece of the whole list. This means that while the special group member visited a household with family members of different last names, the special group member was not able to check all of them since s/he did not have the entire list.
Monitoring Results of Special Groups’ Activities
According to the monitoring results, in some cases special group members did not follow the given instructions. They did not compare the voters’ data to the data of ID cards. Such cases were observed, f.i. in Ozurgeti, Khelvachauri, Chughureti, Shuakhevi, Gori, Mtatsminda, Kareli, Tetritskaro and other districts. Also, several groups checked the citizens’ data based on expired ID cards. In other cases, special group members did not correctly fill in the special protocols designed for deceased voters. Further, sometimes they did not even know how to properly fill in the form at all.
It should be mentioned that special group members did not follow the timeline originally envisioned by the CEC. Despite the CEC’s request to cease the door-to-door campaign on October 11, 2007 and then renew it on October 19, some special groups did not stop the verification process. Thus, instead of ending on November 5, 2007 as planned, the groups that did not pause for the eight days ended their door-to-door campaign early, on October 23. Special groups did not obey the CEC’s timing instructions f.i. in Gardabani, Adigeni, Khelvachauri, Oni, Sachkhere, Zestaponi, Khoni, Tskhaltubo, Kutaisi, Senaki, Martvili, Zugdidi and other districts. Because the special groups in those districts did not adhere to the timeline, ISFED long-term observers could not effectively monitoring the verification process in those districts.
The special groups verified the data of those voters who were registered in the specific election precinct and who lived within the boundaries of the same precinct. Unfortunately, this means that the data for voters whose place of registration differs from the place of actual residence was not checked. It is widely believed that the number of such voters is significantly high and could be due to internal migration. Additionally, based on the CEC instructions, it was not clear what the special group member was supposed to do if the voter was not at home while visiting the household.
Processing and Entering the Voters’ Data checked through the Door-to-door Campaign into the Database
ISFED observed as the data was processed and entered at the CEC. According to the monitoring results, the CEC IT Network and Support Office hired 42 operators to enter the verified voters’ lists into the software. The operators worked on the daily basis in three shifts: 9:00 – 13:30; 14:00 – 18:00; and 18:00 – 22:00. During processing and entering the voters’ list into the software, deceased voters and duplicated data were removed from the lists, omitted voters were added and the boundaries of the precincts were drawn according to the villages. The DEC Chairmen were present at the CEC for 3-4 days to observe the whole process of entering and updating voters’ data in the lists and whenever necessary, to help the operators eliminate inaccuracies.
On 5 December 2007, the process of entering the voters’ data into the database was supposed to have been completed. According to the CEC, two thirds of the total number of voters was checked during the door-to-door campaign. While processing the voters’ data, 28 123 deceased voters were taken off the lists throughout the country which composes 0.83 % of the total number of voters; 65 491 voters were added to the list – 1.94 % of the total number of voters. As of 29 December 2007, there are 3 372 179 voters in total throughout Georgia according to the CEC.
The ISFED long-term observers checked the data of potential deceased voters in several district election commissions. On 22 December 2007, ISFED submitted the list of deceased voters who should not still be on the voters’ list to the CEC. There were 50 deceased voters found in the list of PEC #2 in Kareli DEC # 33; 33 cases in PECs #1 and #2 in Oni DEC #43; 19 cases in PECs #19 and #68 in Zugdidi DEC #67. As of December 31, 2007 the CEC has not yet notified ISFED on the follow up, if any regarding the submitted list of deceased voters.
ISFED conducted a quantitative comparison of the voters’ list of the 2006 local self-government elections to the current voters’ list for the upcoming presidential elections at the district level. The number of voters overall has increased by just over 5 %. It should be mentioned that the number of voters per DEC has significantly increased in several districts, such as Krtsanisi (19.7 %), Kaspi (18.7 %), Marneuli (17,5), Martvili (16.2%), Saburtalo (14.0 %), Lagodekhi (13.8 %) and Ozurgeti (10.9 %). However, it should be noted that the number of voters in Krtsanisi was significantly increased as the boundaries of Tbilisi were re-drawn last year and a number of villages were included as part of the city. Those additional villages are now included in the Krtsanisi district. On the other hand, the number of voters decreased in several districts, such as Mtskheta (-22.7 %), Gardabani (-8.1%), Zemo Apkhazeti (-6.5%), Lentekhi (-2.5%), and Senaki (-2.2%).
On December 7, 2007 the voters’ lists were posted at most of the PECs. ISFED checked whether the findings of the door-to-door campaign were reflected in those lists. Unfortunately, inaccuracies tackled by special groups during the door-to-door campaign were still found in the voters’ lists published on December 7, 2007.
ISFED welcomes the initiative of the CEC to verify voters’ data through the door-to-door checking of voters. However, in order to be most effective, it is desirable to specify all details of the methodology of the door-to-door campaign and its implementation during the preparation period.
ISFED continues to monitor the procedures regarding voters’ list and will consequently publicize the monitoring results.
In October-November, 2007 the election administration of Georgia conducted the door-to-door campaign to verify voters’ lists in 75 election districts throughout the country. International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy’s (ISFED) monitored the implementation of abovementioned process. Below is presented the monitoring results.
Special Groups’ Recruitment Process
On 11 September 2007, the Central Election Commission (CEC) adopted a resolution to create special groups in order to verify and improve the voters’ list. The special groups were designed to check the voters’ data through a door-to-door campaign throughout Georgia.
According to ISFED monitoring results, some special groups did not have the desired number of members. According to the CEC decision, each group was supposed to have a minimum of five members and a maximum of nine members. The members of the special groups were selected by the DEC as well as appointed by political parties. The three political parties that had the best results in the last parliamentary elections had the right to appoint two representatives each (National Movement – Democrats, Industry will Save Georgia and Labor Party of Georgia). However, Industry will Save Georgia and Labor Party of Georgia did not produce the sufficient number of representatives. As a result, not all special groups were composed of nine members.
From September 17 to September 24, each District Election Commission (DEC) received applications for the membership of special groups. Following the submission of applications, DECs were in charge of conducting the selection process of the special group members. By September 29, the election administration had already completed the recruitment process. As a result, 3000 special groups were created throughout the whole country.
Special Groups’ Trainings
According to the CEC project, the training schedule for the election administration was as follows: CEC members conducted trainings on the methodology of the door-to-door campaign to the DEC Chairmen; the DEC Chairmen trained the Chairmen of the special groups and those special group Chairmen were supposed to train in turn the rest of the special group members. At the same time, the CEC together with the Civil Register Agency drafted the protocols designed for the deceased voters and other special forms and instructions. Special group members were supposed to use such documents as guidelines while carrying out the door-to-door campaign. However, the instructions prepared by the CEC did not cover all of the important obstacles/details that special groups encountered later during the implementation process.
Unfortunately, not every special group Chairman was trained. Thus, they were not comprehensively informed on the methodology of the door-to-door canvassing of voters’ list. Such Chairmen could not properly train other special group members on the door-to-door campaign. In most of the cases, the training was composed of only distributed instructions and other necessary documentations to the special group members. In the light of the abovementioned, important details were unfortunately lost while delivering information to the lower level. Improper trainings had the negative impact on the quality of verifying the voters’ data through the door-to-door campaign.
Logistics
ISFED observed problems related to logistics while the election administration was carrying out the door-to-door campaign. Special group members were not provided with all of the materials necessary for effective implementation of the project. More specifically, in some cases the special instructions drafted by the CEC that described the verification process of voters’ lists were not delivered to all special group members. Additionally, special groups were not provided with the sufficient number of copies of the voters’ lists of the relevant precincts. Each group was given only two copies of the list. It should be mentioned that special group members were split into mini-groups to the check the voters’ data. Since each mini-group did not have the list of voters, they could not then make the corrections and additions directly onto the voters’ list. The mini-groups had to make notes on the separate pieces of paper and later, based on that feedback, the data were corrected in the voters’ list of the precinct. Multiple entrances of data may have caused additional inaccuracies.
Another obstacle that interrupted the effective conduct of the door-to-door campaign was the split of the voters’ list according to the alphabetical order among the special group members. So each member of the group had only a piece of the whole list. This means that while the special group member visited a household with family members of different last names, the special group member was not able to check all of them since s/he did not have the entire list.
Monitoring Results of Special Groups’ Activities
According to the monitoring results, in some cases special group members did not follow the given instructions. They did not compare the voters’ data to the data of ID cards. Such cases were observed, f.i. in Ozurgeti, Khelvachauri, Chughureti, Shuakhevi, Gori, Mtatsminda, Kareli, Tetritskaro and other districts. Also, several groups checked the citizens’ data based on expired ID cards. In other cases, special group members did not correctly fill in the special protocols designed for deceased voters. Further, sometimes they did not even know how to properly fill in the form at all.
It should be mentioned that special group members did not follow the timeline originally envisioned by the CEC. Despite the CEC’s request to cease the door-to-door campaign on October 11, 2007 and then renew it on October 19, some special groups did not stop the verification process. Thus, instead of ending on November 5, 2007 as planned, the groups that did not pause for the eight days ended their door-to-door campaign early, on October 23. Special groups did not obey the CEC’s timing instructions f.i. in Gardabani, Adigeni, Khelvachauri, Oni, Sachkhere, Zestaponi, Khoni, Tskhaltubo, Kutaisi, Senaki, Martvili, Zugdidi and other districts. Because the special groups in those districts did not adhere to the timeline, ISFED long-term observers could not effectively monitoring the verification process in those districts.
The special groups verified the data of those voters who were registered in the specific election precinct and who lived within the boundaries of the same precinct. Unfortunately, this means that the data for voters whose place of registration differs from the place of actual residence was not checked. It is widely believed that the number of such voters is significantly high and could be due to internal migration. Additionally, based on the CEC instructions, it was not clear what the special group member was supposed to do if the voter was not at home while visiting the household.
Processing and Entering the Voters’ Data checked through the Door-to-door Campaign into the Database
ISFED observed as the data was processed and entered at the CEC. According to the monitoring results, the CEC IT Network and Support Office hired 42 operators to enter the verified voters’ lists into the software. The operators worked on the daily basis in three shifts: 9:00 – 13:30; 14:00 – 18:00; and 18:00 – 22:00. During processing and entering the voters’ list into the software, deceased voters and duplicated data were removed from the lists, omitted voters were added and the boundaries of the precincts were drawn according to the villages. The DEC Chairmen were present at the CEC for 3-4 days to observe the whole process of entering and updating voters’ data in the lists and whenever necessary, to help the operators eliminate inaccuracies.
On 5 December 2007, the process of entering the voters’ data into the database was supposed to have been completed. According to the CEC, two thirds of the total number of voters was checked during the door-to-door campaign. While processing the voters’ data, 28 123 deceased voters were taken off the lists throughout the country which composes 0.83 % of the total number of voters; 65 491 voters were added to the list – 1.94 % of the total number of voters. As of 29 December 2007, there are 3 372 179 voters in total throughout Georgia according to the CEC.
The ISFED long-term observers checked the data of potential deceased voters in several district election commissions. On 22 December 2007, ISFED submitted the list of deceased voters who should not still be on the voters’ list to the CEC. There were 50 deceased voters found in the list of PEC #2 in Kareli DEC # 33; 33 cases in PECs #1 and #2 in Oni DEC #43; 19 cases in PECs #19 and #68 in Zugdidi DEC #67. As of December 31, 2007 the CEC has not yet notified ISFED on the follow up, if any regarding the submitted list of deceased voters.
ISFED conducted a quantitative comparison of the voters’ list of the 2006 local self-government elections to the current voters’ list for the upcoming presidential elections at the district level. The number of voters overall has increased by just over 5 %. It should be mentioned that the number of voters per DEC has significantly increased in several districts, such as Krtsanisi (19.7 %), Kaspi (18.7 %), Marneuli (17,5), Martvili (16.2%), Saburtalo (14.0 %), Lagodekhi (13.8 %) and Ozurgeti (10.9 %). However, it should be noted that the number of voters in Krtsanisi was significantly increased as the boundaries of Tbilisi were re-drawn last year and a number of villages were included as part of the city. Those additional villages are now included in the Krtsanisi district. On the other hand, the number of voters decreased in several districts, such as Mtskheta (-22.7 %), Gardabani (-8.1%), Zemo Apkhazeti (-6.5%), Lentekhi (-2.5%), and Senaki (-2.2%).
On December 7, 2007 the voters’ lists were posted at most of the PECs. ISFED checked whether the findings of the door-to-door campaign were reflected in those lists. Unfortunately, inaccuracies tackled by special groups during the door-to-door campaign were still found in the voters’ lists published on December 7, 2007.
ISFED welcomes the initiative of the CEC to verify voters’ data through the door-to-door checking of voters. However, in order to be most effective, it is desirable to specify all details of the methodology of the door-to-door campaign and its implementation during the preparation period.
ISFED continues to monitor the procedures regarding voters’ list and will consequently publicize the monitoring results.
News
December 13, 2023
Ethnic minorities outside the peace dialogue
November 6, 2023
‘Peace’ agenda of political parties
Popular
Articles
February 13, 2024
Why are Ossetians affected by the conflict unable to regain Georgian citizenship and their property?
