U.S. Urges Shevardnadze to Ensure Integrity of Elections

“We urge President Shevardnadze to ensure the integrity of the election and thereby bolster the partnership between our two nations,” Adam Ereli, the Deputy Spokesman of U.S. Department of State said at a news briefing on November 5.

“We have already expressed our concern about the problems with the voter list and we made it clear that the Central Election Commission should do everything possible to correct election day errors now, during tabulation of votes, by throwing out egregious cases of fraud,” he added.

Adam Ereli also said that the U.S. Ambassador to Georgia Richard Miles met with President Shevardnadze on November 5 “to review the latest developments in the Georgian elections. He made just the following points: that timely, transparent and accurate tabulation and reporting of the vote count is essential to restoring voter confidence; and that the Georgian Central Election Commission’s delay in providing a full and accurate vote count raises serious concerns in this regard.”