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International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy Final

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International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy Final International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy Final Report for the period of February 11th, 2016- March 31st, 2017 Strengthening Political and Electoral Environment for Democracy in Georgia (SPEED) USAID Cooperative Agreement No. AID-114-A-16-00002 Total budget: $ 1,385,030 I. SUMMARY On February 11th, 2016 ISFED signed the contract with the USAID on the new project: `Strengthening Political and Electoral Environment for Democracy in Georgia (SPEED)`. At the first stage of the project, in March and April, ISFED had the introductory and consultation meetings with the USAID representatives on the financial and program related issues. Taking into consideration the needs assessment of the project and feedback received from the USAID representatives, the Project Core Team (PCT) updated the project PMP and the work plan, which was submitted to the donor in May. In March-April, ISFED worked on research and study of the new electoral districts determined by the Central Election Commission (CEC)1. Within the project, ISFED selected two new staff members on the positions of the Program Manager and the Project Assistant. In May, organization started the recruitment process of Long Term observers (LTOs) for monitoring the pre-election period. In April, the PCT organized the meeting for the central office staff members, presented and discussed the new redistribution, boarders and functions of the electoral districts. On May 3-5, ISFED organized the retreat to Kakheti region. The meetings held at the retreat were attended by ten central and five regional office staff members and covered the topics related with the observation of the pre-election period. Follow up the retreat, ISFED developed the recruitment plan of Long Term Observers (LTOs), methodology of observation, reporting and communication system for the pre-election period and 1 On January 8, 2016 the Parliament adopted the amendments in the Election Code. To maintain the equality of votes, the electoral districts were divided or unified more or less proportionally, based on the number of voters. 1 designed the module of LTO trainings. The pre-election monitoring forms and instructions were being updated as well. In May, the PCT members met with the contracted ICT expert. Based on discussions regarding the new electoral boarders, methodology of observation and monitoring forms, the needed updates in the LTO database had been agreed and planned. ISFED also drafted the activity timeline for the whole Election cycle, including the pre-election, the Election Day and the post-election periods. Due to the fact, that the official pre-election campaign for the 2016 Parliamentary Elections started four months previous to the Election Day2, ISFED rescheduled some pre-election related activities and worked on searching the additional funds to start the pre-election monitoring earlier, than it was budgeted in the USAID funded project. ISFED applied with the proposal for co-funding the pre-election monitoring to the National Endowment for Democracy (NED). The grant was approved and covered expenses of the pre-election monitoring activities for one month3. ISFED also got funds to cover the Election Day expenses from the Embassy of the Netherlands, European Union (EU) and Federal Foreign office of Germany. In June ISFED revised, updated and finalized the module of LTO trainings and developed materials (instructions and monitoring forms) for Long Term Observers. Based on amendments in methodology the LTO database was updated by ICT expert as well. At the end of June ISFED conducted the trainings for 68 Long Term Observers. In the beginning of July LTOs started the monitoring of the pre-election period in their respective districts. In the beginning of July, ISFED started active preparations for the Election Day. ISFED project core team designed the modules for trainings, developed the methodology of observation, prepared and printed instructions, manuals and monitoring forms for the whole observation mission including Long Term Observers (LTOs), Short Term Observers (STOs), mobile teams, District Election Commission Observers (DEC), post- election observers and lawyers. ISFED also developed the random sample of 600 polling stations and additionally identified around 200 potentially interesting and problematic polling stations for observation. The Incident and SMS centers were arranged at the Central office as well. In August-September ISFED recruited and accredited around 1000 STOs. In September ISFED conducted the trainings for STO trainers, STOs, mobile teams, DEC observers, post-election observers and lawyers. 2 The president announced the start date for official pre-election campaign on June 8, 2016, which means that the pre-election period, will start two months earlier, than it was for previous Parliamentary Elections in 2012. The Election Day will be held on October 8, 2016; 3 NED grant covers the expenses of LTOs as honoraria, transportation, and communication for one month. 2 In the beginning of October, ISFED had the final steps of preparatory activities for the Election Day of 2016 Parliamentary Elections. ISFED conducted the training of data entry operators and the final briefings for short-term observers in their respective regions. On October 3rd, ISFED held a simulation of the Election Day monitoring methodology - Parallel Vote Tabulation (PVT)4. ISFED carried out the pre-election monitoring of the October 8, 2016 Parliamentary Elections through 68 long-term observers (LTOs) in all election districts of Georgia over the period of three months5 prior to the Election Day. ISFED issued four reports6 on the pre-election findings. Pre-election monitoring7 of the runoffs on October 30 was conducted by 38 LTOs of ISFED in 50 election districts8 where majoritarian MP candidates could not clear 50%+1 threshold in the first round of the parliamentary elections. ISFED issued one report9 on the pre-election findings for the second tour. ISFED observation mission for the October 8, 2016 Parliamentary Elections comprised of nearly 1000 accredited and trained observers deployed in precinct, district and central electoral commissions. ISFED short-term observers (STOs) monitored the process of voting and tabulation in PECs through the Parallel Vote Tabulation (PVT) methodology 10. ISFED issued five statements11 on the Election Day findings. ISFED observed the rerun elections of October 22, 2016 in all four electoral precincts and both DECs in Zugdidi no.66 and Marneuli no.36 majoritarian election districts12. ISFED monitored the runoffs on October 30, 2016 in 50 election districts of Georgia. ISFED monitoring mission for the runoffs consisted of nearly 700 observers assigned to the all levels of election commissions. Similar to the first round of the parliamentary 4 http://www.isfed.ge/main/1148/eng/ 5 The long-term observation of the pre-election period for the first round of the elections ran from July 1 to October 7. 6http://www.isfed.ge/main/1100/eng/;http://www.isfed.ge/main/1118/eng/;http://www.isfed.ge/main/1131/e ng/; http://www.isfed.ge/main/1147/eng/ 7 Pre-election monitoring of the runoffs ran from October 9 to October 27. 8 Mtatsminda, Vake, Saburtalo, Krtsanisi, Isani, Samgori, Chughureti, Didube, Nadzaladevi, Gldani, Sagarejo, Gurjaani, Lagodekhi, Kvareli, Telavi, Akhmeta, Mtskheta, Rustavi, Marneuli, Gardabani, Kaspi, Gori, Khashuri, Akhaltsikhe, Adigeni, Kutaisi (three majoritarian districts), Kharagauli, Baghdati, Zestaponi, Chiatura, Lanchkhuti, Ozurgeti, Chokhatauri, Poti, Senaki, Abasha, Khobi, Zugdidi, Tsalenjikha, Chkhorotsku, Batumi (three majoritarian districts), Kobuleti, Khelvachauri, Keda. 9 http://www.isfed.ge/main/1165/eng/ 10 PVT is an election observation methodology that enables detection of irregularities in a timely manner, evaluation of the entirety Election Day process and verification of accuracy of official results. PVT relies on statistical methods and information and communication technology (ICT) to provide accurate and timely information about the process of voting and tabulation. PVT provides the most accurate and timely information on the conduct of voting and counting and is the only methodology that can independently verify accuracy of the official results as announced by the electoral commission. 11http://www.isfed.ge/main/1152/eng/;http://www.isfed.ge/main/1153/eng/;http://www.isfed.ge/main/1157/ eng/; http://www.isfed.ge/main/1158/eng/; http://www.isfed.ge/main/1159/eng/ 12 http://www.isfed.ge/main/1162/eng/ 3 elections, ISFED relied on PVT for monitoring the runoffs. ISFED issued five statements13 on the Election Day findings for the second tour. ISFED monitored the post-election period after the first round by means of 68 observers and lawyers. ISFED observation focused on activities of the election administration, complaints process in DECs and the creation of summary protocols. A total of 42 ISFED observers monitored the post-election period following the runoff elections. In connection to 109 violations, ISFED filed 102 complaints with PEC, and in connection to 462 violations, ISFED filed 244 complaints with DECs. Two complaints were filed in Batumi City Court and one in Kutaisi Appellate Court. On March 10th, 2017 ISFED held the presentation of the final report on monitoring of 2016 Parliamentary Elections14. II. BACKGROUND The 2016 Parliamentary Elections were very significant since the term of office for MPs is 4 years. The electoral system has remained the same, and much like the previous Parliamentary Elections, was held based
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