Who Will (Not) Observe October 4 Local Elections

Georgia’s October 4 municipal elections will take place against the backdrop of a partial opposition boycott, as several major opposition parties have opted to sit out the race.

The vote comes amid continued Georgian Dream repression, the jailing of political leaders, crackdowns on media and civil society organizations, including traditional election watchdogs, and what critics describe as worsened election laws. The vote will take place in parallel with a mass opposition protest outside the parliament, a tensely anticipated event expected to draw at least some of the spotlight away from the elections.

The tense political context, coupled with lackluster races in many constituencies where the ruling party faces little competition, has also led to what may be the least-observed elections in Georgia in decades, with major international missions such as OSCE/ODIHR, as well as key local watchdogs, unwilling or unable to monitor the municipal vote.

29 international and 23 local groups are registered to observe this year’s municipal vote in Georgia, down from 29 international and 64 local missions that observed the 2021 local elections, which came amid the government crisis caused by disputed 2020 parliamentary votes and also carried added meaning of a “referendum” over snap elections.

Here’s who will (not) be monitoring the October 4 vote:

International Missions

29 international observation missions have signed up to monitor the October 4 municipal vote, the same number as in the previous 2021 local elections. However, the largest international missions deployed to monitor the 2021 race are missing from this year’s lineup.

That includes the OSCE/ODIHR mission, which said it would be unable to deploy a mission following a last-minute invitation by Georgian Dream authorities, extended less than a month before the election day, against calls by foreign partners and ODIHR itself to do it earlier.

Other major international missions, including from U.S. non-profits such as the National Democratic Institute (NDI), the International Republican Institute (IRI), as well as a delegation from the European Parliament, are also absent from the list. Instead, this year’s list is dominated by obscure watchdogs, with the biggest mission deployed by Association “ALTERFACT”, a Belgrade-based organization.

The remaining listed groups this year largely cover smaller deployments by election commissions, diplomatic missions, and state bodies from countries including Turkey, Hungary, Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan, Belarus, Armenia, Slovakia, the UK, and others. Estonia’s State Electoral Office is also listed, but Civil.ge learned from official sources that it won’t be sending any official mission.

Below is the list of international missions registered to observe the October 4, 2025, vote:

1. Association “ALTERFACT” (19 observers)
2. Independent Election Commission – Jordan (IEC)
3. Independent High Electoral Body of Tunisia
4. Election Commission of Maldives
5. Supreme Election Council of Turkey
6. National Election Board of Ethiopia (NEBE)
7. State Election Commission of Montenegro
8. Central Election Commission of Bosnia and Herzegovina
9. Electoral Commission of South Africa
10. Central Election Commission of Bulgaria
11. Central Commission on Elections and Referenda of the Kyrgyz Republic
12. Central Election Commission of the Republic of Azerbaijan
13. Fijian Elections Office (FEO)
14. National Election Office of Hungary
15. The Department of Elections, Referendum, and the Political Parties of the Ministry of Interior of the Slovak Republic
16. Central Election Commission of the Republic of Armenia
17. Commission on Elections of the Philippines
18. State Electoral Office of Estonia
19. Central Election Commission of the Republic of Albania
20. The Electoral Commission of the United Kingdom
21. The Election Commission of Malaysia (ECM)
22. The Electoral Institute of Mexico City (IECM)
23. The National Electoral Institute of Mexico (INE)
24. Central Election Commission of the Republic of Uzbekistan
25. The Central Election Commission of the Republic of Belarus
26. Embassy of Switzerland in Georgia
27. Embassy of Hungary in Georgia
28. Central Electoral Commission of the Republic of Moldova
29. Center for Fundamental Rights

Local Watchdogs

23 local watchdogs registered to observe the October 4, 2025, local polls, a stark drop from 64 domestic missions that observed the 2021 municipal vote. Here, too, key independent watchdogs that monitored past elections in Georgia, including the International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy (ISFED), the Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association (GYLA), and Transparency International (TI) – Georgia, chose not to deploy missions. All three watchdogs have been recently targeted by different repressive laws approved by the Georgian Dream parliament.

In its decision, ISFED cited “largely unmet” conditions for ensuring a free and fair vote, while GYLA called the political and legal environment surrounding the elections “one of the most difficult in Georgia’s modern history.” TI Georgia has yet to make a statement, but the watchdog is not on this year’s CEC list.

Instead, the list is dominated by dubious watchdogs that have drawn controversies in the past elections for interfering in the vote in favor of the ruling party and even allegations of being involved in rigging schemes.

That includes the International Observatory for Barristers and Lawyers with 2,959 observers, and Policy and Law Observer enlisting 2,879 observers, two dubious watchdogs headed by spouses Grigol Gagnidze and Eka Agladze. The organizations have faced scrutiny during the past elections over acting in favor of the ruling party, and have come up in the journalistic investigation after last year’s disputed parliamentary vote, facing allegations of involvement in voter pressure and “carousel” schemes. Another obscure watchdog, with 803 registered observers, is the Association – Free Generation.

Other groups with relatively large local missions and known alignment with the ruling Georgian Dream party include:

Moving Forward, with 302 registered observers, chaired by Shalva Kutchashvili, a staunch supporter and activist of the ruling Georgian Dream party. He founded the organization in 2021 to counter what he has described as “destructive forces,” a derogatory term frequently used by the ruling party and affiliates to discredit opposition groups.

Former Political Prisoners – for Human Rights (145 observers) is an organization led by Nana Kakabadze, a controversial figure who is also a co-founder of United Neutral Georgia, a hardline group known for voicing pro-GD narratives, and whose appeal became the basis of the ongoing so-called “sabotage” probe which has been used to crack down on CSOs and civic initiatives, including freezing their accounts.

Protect Your Homeland, with 133 registered observers, is another shadowy organization that will be monitoring the October 4 vote. It is headed by Darejan (Dodo) Gugeshashvili, a woman once among the leaders of Mkhedrioni, the paramilitary group active in Georgia in the early 1990s and associated with various atrocities of that period. In March this year, Gugeshashvili’s organization appealed to the Georgian Dream Parliament, demanding a ban on LGBT marches and rainbow-themed accessories.

Several smaller groups have also been accredited, albeit with more modest observer quotas. These include: Movement League of Voters (123 observers), Club of Young Experts (114), Georgian Volunteers Union (110), Training and Development Institute of Georgia (45), Civil Development and Monitoring Center (31), and Regional Development and Promotion Center (25).

Also Read:

• 23/09/2025 – Number of Political Parties Running in 2025 Local Elections Down to 12
• 26/08/2025 – ISFED: Election Law Changes Tilt October 4 Vote Further Toward Georgian Dream
• 11/08/2025 – 17 Parties Register for Local Elections
• 17/06/2025 – Treason or Opportunity – Opposition Squabbles over Municipal Elections