ODIHR has deployed an election observation mission for the presidential election in Georgia on 4 January 2004.

Background

On 3 November, the international election observation mission (IEOM) concluded that "the 2 November parliamentary elections in Georgia fell short of a number of OSCE commitments and other international standards for democratic elections.

"Inaccuracies in the voter list seriously challenged the fundamental guarantee of universal and equal suffrage, and lessened voters' confidence in the state administration. Certain aspects of the election process, however, did demonstrate significant progress."

On 28 November, ODIHR issued a post-election interim report that noted that "the overall election process was characterized by a clear lack of political will by the governmental authorities to organize a genuine democratic election process."

Widespread and systematic election fraud was evident during the 2 November elections, which affected the integrity of the election results. Opposition parties and large numbers of citizens demonstrated their refusal to accept the election results, resulting in a political crisis.

On 23 November, President Shevardnadze resigned and on 25 November, the Supreme Court cancelled the proportional component of the parliamentary elections. Under the Constitution, Nino Burjanadze, the speaker of parliament, became acting president and early presidential elections were scheduled for 4 January 2004.

Long-term observation

The mission, headed by Craig Jenness, includes 13 international staff based at the Tbilisi head office and 24 long-term observers deployed throughout the country. Two of these were recruited through a voluntary fund established to diversify the national composition of election observation missions.

The mission will assess the entire election process in terms of its compliance with international standards for democratic elections and national legislation. It will focus on the election campaign, the legislative framework and its implementation, the media situation, the work of the election administration and relevant government bodies, and the resolution of election-related disputes.

Election day
 
ODIHR is planning to deploy some 450 short-term observers shortly before election day. The short-term observers were deployed across Georgia in teams of two to monitor the opening of polling stations, the voting, the counting of ballots, and the tabulation of results at all levels.

A number of parliamentarians from the Parliamentary Assemblies of the OSCE and the Council of Europe, as well as a delegation from the European Parliament, will also take part in the mission as short-term observers.

The day after the election, the election observation mission will issue a statement of preliminary findings and conclusions. A comprehensive final report will be released about a month after the completion of the election process.

Previous elections

ODIHR has observed a number of elections in Georgia, including the the 2 November 2003 parliamentary elections, the 2000 presidential election, the 1999 parliamentary election, and the 1995 presidential and parliamentary elections.