Shevardnadze Demands Investigation of Ballot Fraud

President Shevardnadze urges to punish those persons, who directly participated in rigging the November 2 parliamentary elections.

“All those persons, who participated in ballot fraud, will be punished strictly. Inaccurate voter lists is one of the serious problems. I failed to find my relatives’ names in the voter lists, while the deceased and those born in 1800 were included on the lists. I demand to create a special group, which will investigate this case,” President Shevardnadze in his radio broadcast on November 17.

The President said that more or less exact voter lists were made by the Interior Ministry, adding that most inaccuracies took place after these lists were computerized, hinting on the U.S-based International Foundation for Election Systems, which assisted Georgian authorities to computerize the lists.

Shevardnadze said the representatives of the Interior and Security Ministries, the Prosecutor General and the members of the society will take part in the work of the new commission.

While the President hails the Interior Ministry’s voter lists, the election observer organizations, as well as experts, cast doubts over the accuracy of the voter lists developed by the Interior Ministry and the Central Election Commission.