Appeals Court rejects violation of voting secrecy in Georgia elections

The Tbilisi Court of Appeals has rejected the lawsuits filed by the non-governmental organization "Georgian Young Lawyers' Association" (GYLA) demanding recognition of mass violation of the secret ballot principle in the October 26 parliamentary elections and annulment of voting results at all 1,293 polling stations in Eastern Georgia where electronic technologies were used, Report informs referring to Georgian media.

GYLA representatives argue their claim by pointing out that marker traces are visible on the back of the ballot. The CEC insists that proper placement of the ballot in a special thick paper folder fully ensures compliance with the secret ballot principle.

"We proved that the secrecy of voting was not protected in these elections... This was the responsibility of the Central Election Commission, which they failed to fulfill," said GYLA head Nona Kurdovanidze.

She noted that regardless of the court's decision, a large part of the population, namely 2 million people, know from personal experience that their vote was not secret.

Parliamentary elections were held in Georgia for the first time on a large scale using electronic technologies – verification and vote-counting machines. Out of 3,111 polling stations, 2,263 were technological. At the remaining stations – in highland areas and abroad – voting was conducted using traditional methods.