Voters to Undergo Advance Registration
On December 7 the Central Election Commission (CEC) adopted a regulation on the rule of composition of the new voter lists, which foresees advance registration of the voters.
According to the rule the voters will go to the precincts and fill out the special forms from December 15 to December 21, which will enable them to cast a ballot on January 4 snap presidential elections.
From December 21 to December 27 the precincts will make corrections to the voter lists. From December 27 to December 31 the Central Election Commission will make further corrections in cooperation with the Interior and Justice Ministries, as well as with other relevant state agencies.
The rule also considers including of those voters on the lists on the election day, who will fail to undergo preliminary registration.
The Parliament failed to adopt this proposal on December 5, due to the absence of quorum. The proposal was met with skepticism by the one part of members of the acting Parliament. Opponents believe that only small number of voters will go to the precincts and fill out the voter registration forms.
“As a result of consultations with relevant state agencies, it is clear that there is no perfect voter data that the Central Election Commission can use as a base to prepare the voter lists. Within such tight timeframes it is impossible to conduct all the technical activities necessary for perfecting the voter data held by state agencies,” Zurab Chiaberashvili said in his statement issued on December 4.
Mess in the voter lists during the November 2 parliamentary elections triggered protest of thousands of Georgian voters, who were deprived of the right to cast ballot, as they were not included on the lists.
