The Daily Beat: 14 November
On November 14, the opposition Coalition for Change presented a detailed report depicting alleged widespread electoral fraud in Georgia’s 2024 parliamentary elections. The document, supported by hundreds of complaints, highlights numerous irregularities, including discrepancies between exit polls and official results, breaches of ballot secrecy, and statistical anomalies suggesting election manipulation. Key findings point to potential Russian interference, fraudulent voting practices, and systemic violations involving voter identification and multiple voting. Zurab Japaridze, one of the coalition leaders, emphasized that the ruling Georgian Dream party controls all state institutions, making an impartial national investigation impossible. The coalition is calling for an international, independent inquiry into the alleged election rigging.
Alleged Russian interference in Georgia’s 2024 parliamentary elections has surfaced after an audio recording, released on October 29 on the Russian Telegram channel Georgian Passerby, appeared to feature Giorgi Taktakishvili, leader of the ‘Vote for Europe‘ movement, threatening OSCE/ODIHR spokesperson Katya Andrusz over alleged bribe-taking. Taktakishvili denied the call, pointing to discrepancies in the recording, including voice and organizational name mispronunciations. According to the experts, unnatural pauses, gaps and a deep voice tone were detected, suggesting that the recording may have been technically edited or synthesized. Analysts suggest the incident may be part of a broader Russian effort to disrupt Georgia’s electoral process, particularly by intimidating both local activists and international observers.
Tamar Kordzaia, a leader of the opposition party Unity-UNM, claimed that all branches of government, including the Central Election Commission (CEC) and the Prosecutor’s Office are “cleaning up” the results of rigged elections. She further criticized the Prosecutor’s Office for blocking access to key documents, calling it a tactic used by the ruling Georgian Dream party, which she compared to a “modern Communist Party.” More updates on post election-related developments can be found in our 2024 Election Live Blog.
Giorgi Gakharia, leader of the opposition party For Georgia, demanded the release of the voters’ list seized by the Prosecutor’s Office. He revealed that the CEC no longer had access to the data. Gakharia also criticized the Georgian Dream government for neglecting the issue of occupied territories of Abkhazia and Tskhinvali Region/South Ossetia, warning that Russia’s recent demands during the November 7 Geneva talks over “border” delimitation and a non-use of force could threaten Georgia’s sovereignty.
