Georgian elections plagued by voting irregularities, says democracy body

GEORGIA:Fresh doubts surround the legitimacy of the recent presidential election in Georgia after complaints from a leading election watchdog that nearly one-quarter of vote counts were "bad or very bad".

In unusually direct language, the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) has warned of "a considerable number of complaints regarding irregularities in voting, counting and tabulation of election results".

Concerns expressed by ODIHR officials and election monitors immediately after the election were drowned out by the view of a US congressman that the poll was a "triumph for democracy".

However, now ODIHR's preliminary report, based on the experiences of long-term observers on the ground, lends credence to claims by the Georgian opposition that the election was rigged.

At the very least, the report casts doubt on whether incumbent president Mikheil Saakashvili captured 53 per cent of the vote, narrowly crossing the 50 per cent threshold to avoid a second-round run-off.

Election observers described the count of votes at 180 count centres as "not very well organised and very often chaotic".

One-fifth of counts observed showed "significant procedural errors or omissions" with many protocols lacking official stamps and signatures. In more than one-third of counts observed, the number of people who voted did not tally with the total number of papers in the ballot boxes.

Some count centre protocols showed an unusual surge of voters in the last three hours and a "significant increase of votes cast for Mr Saakashvili".

Some 23 count centres reported a 100 per cent turnout, and another 205 reported turnout of between 90 and 100 per cent.

ODIHR observers noted a "significant number" of papers "filled out in identical fashion, raising suspicion of wrongdoing", while more than 85,000 people were added to the electoral register on polling day.

The ODIHR report says the election officials displayed "apparent avoidance to substantively consider complaints". These included "multiple voting, ballot-stuffing and tampering with protocols".

On January 10th, the report notes, opposition leaders presented the Central Election Committee (CEC) with sealed, marked ballot papers it says were found on a rubbish tip outside the capital, Tbilisi. The CEC suggested the opposition bring the papers to the police.

The final election results presented by the CEC on January 13th were approved by seven votes to six. The six opposition members said there were too many concerns about procedures to call the elections free and fair.