What news will voters find at the polling stations on October 1st? What are the changes that voters will experience, and how far has the introduction of electronic technologies into the election process progressed? Giorgi Kalandarishvili will answer this question and others.
Where and who will the voters vote for in this year’s second election?
On October 1, Georgia will hold extraordinary mayoral and parliamentary elections. On October 1, the voters will elect Gori-Kaspi as the majority deputy of the Parliament of Georgia. In addition, extraordinary mayoral elections in Gurjaani will take place.
These elections are important because they will not only allow voters to select their representatives to the Parliament of Georgia, but also to the self-governing body. They will also do so by using new technologies. The election administration will, as in the spring elections use electronic technologies at a large-scale. Why is this important? The parliamentary elections of 2024 will see 90% of voters using electronic voting technologies. This will be the largest-scale use in Georgia of technology in elections. It is therefore important to thoroughly test and study the technologies. The elections on April 29 provided us with the opportunity to do this, which can be described as a “general rehearsal”. During these elections, we tested technologies in a large-scale environment and saw how they worked and their advantages. All local organizations’ reports were studied and the challenges and needs identified.
Since 2018, the election administration has used electronic technologies at various scales to test and pilot 7 elections. We gained valuable experience from the pilots mentioned above, as well visits to other countries for observation and to share experiences.
On October 1, we will again see in practice, together with electoral stakeholders if there are any issues that require our attention in order to be even more prepared for the elections in 2024.
90% of voters who will come to the polling station for the 2024 parliamentary elections will be able vote using electronic technology
How will the elections take place on October 1st? Voting remotely or at a polling station is it possible?
On October 1, 85.3% will be able to see how electronic voting technologies work. For the elections, 133 polling stations are scheduled to be open. According to CEC’s decision, voting will take place at 103 polling booths using voter verification and count machines.
These new technologies do not allow you to vote at home from your device. Voters must either go to a polling station to make their choice or, if they have a valid reason, they can request a mobile voting box. We will use two types of technology, including both voter registration/verification machines and vote counting machines. I want to stress that the devices will not be connected to the internet or network in any way to avoid the risk of cyber interference. The registrar verifies the data of the voter with an electronic verification device. The verification machine will only be able to load the list of voters for that specific polling station. The verification machine is capable of double verification. After scanning/checking an identity document, the photo of its owner will appear on the screen. This will allow his identity to be confirmed. The voter will sign and print a receipt.
In this case, there will be a different ballot paper. The voter will not circle the candidate number, but instead color the circle next to the candidate’s names. The ballot also has an additional security feature – a QR code and barcode. This prevents the same ballot or a ballot from a different district from being placed repeatedly in the box.
The secrecy is maintained by using a special envelope to place the ballot in the vote counting machine. This machine will automatically count votes and will print a summary of the preliminary voting results immediately after the completion.
The ballots are also manually counted and only then is a summary protocol drawn up.
How will those voters who do not qualify for the 85% vote participate in the elections.
Elections will take place according to traditional methods in districts with fewer than 300 voters and more than 20 km from the District Election Commission. This also applies to areas that will be created as a result of exceptional circumstances or in hard-to reach places.
We will not reduce our efforts just because the elections in these precincts are conducted using the traditional method. The voting in these precincts is sure to be in accordance with international standards. This is especially true because these areas are also being modernized to some extent.
What are the benefits of introducing technology to elections? Will the time required to count votes and announce the results be reduced?
Since years, the administration of elections has been testing electronic election technologies and evaluating the feasibility of implementation. We are also familiarizing ourselves with other countries’ experiences in this area. The piloting of electoral technology and the experience gained has shown that using technologies in the electoral processes ensures the simple procedures and, to a certain extent, insures against errors by humans. The voting process is more convenient for voters, the time spent voting and the delay of the voter at the polling station are reduced and the vote counting devices provide timely information.
It is important to ensure transparency in both modernized and conventional precincts, which is demonstrated by the manual counting of ballots. After the machine prints the preliminary results and counts the ballots, a manual recount is still necessary. Then, a summary protocol is created. We do not wait for the manual counting results to be published before publishing the preliminary data. The voting machine automatically counts votes. After the voting is completed, and the mandatory procedures have been completed, the machine prints out the results. These will be sent as quickly as possible to the CEC and made public.
On October 1, 85.3% will be able to see how electronic voting technologies work in 103 polling stations.
Tablets are a new solution and approach to sending the preliminary data from the polling station, whether it is a modernized polling station or if it is a traditional polling place. This allows the summary protocols to scanned, and the data to be instantly transferred to a central server. It was successfully tested during the first round of elections on April 29.
How will the privacy of votes be protected when voting electronically?
Secrecy will be protected and ensured as it is a fundamental principle in elections. The voter must insert the ballot into the voting machine using an inverted frame-envelope. It is therefore impossible for anyone to know who a voter voted for.
What changes will voters experience with the introduction of electronic technology? Can only those with a passport and ID card participate in electronic voting, or can anyone use a laminated certification?
The verification machine confirms that the voter has participated in the election, and ID cards and passports can be used. On October 1, voters will be able to use a laminated ID document because the verification machines can manually enter data. However, in 2024, voter verification is only possible with an electronic ID card or passport.
Is it possible for some machines to malfunction at the polling station? What happens if this happens?
According to the experience gained by the election administration, it is unlikely that any of the machines would fail. But, of course, there are provisions for such cases. In any case, the voting will not be stopped. If one machine fails to verify, for example, the number registrars is reduced, and the machine is removed. Verification will continue with another machine. If all the machines fail, the voter’s desk lists are sealed at the polling stations and the voting process continues in the traditional manner.
At least two machines will count votes at each polling station. If one machine fails, another will be installed. If both machines fail, the scanner attached to the box’s top will be removed, and the voting process will continue as before (the voter will put the ballot into the slot).
What is the extent to which the election administration is ready to use technology for the October 1 elections and what will be the impact on the 2024 elections?
The election administration is prepared and is doing all it can to ensure the election process is conducted transparently, in full compliance with legislation and at a professional level. The election administration had already planned to purchase technical support for the elections. In cooperation with the state procurement agency and on the basis an open international bid, a vendor was identified. In 2023-2024 the “Smartmatik’ company will provide electronic election devices and software to the election administration. Smartmatic has extensive experience in conducting electronic voting in different countries, and also produces the necessary equipment. The company has been a leader in the industry of elections since 2000 and has modernized elections in over 30 countries. It has completed projects of this kind in Great Britain and USA, Argentina, Brazil Mexico, Albania, Bulgaria Estonia, Belgium and the Philippines.
Voting time is reduced and the vote counting devices provide timely information.
To conduct elections at the highest professional level, we must provide information to voters and implement large-scale campaigns of information and education. A detailed action plan, defining all activities, has already been developed. This year and next, all educational projects will be devoted to the topic of voting electronically. A number of innovative voter education campaigns are also planned. The CEC and Education Center have educational projects, such as “CEC Election School”, “Election Camps”, “Election Administrator Courses”, and “Elections and Young Voters”. For each election, a “Talking to Voters” campaign is also held. In this context, representatives of district and precinct elections commissions meet with voters, inform them about election procedures, distribute information brochures and help them verify the data on the voter list. Demonstrations using electronic technologies in crowded areas have been conducted and are planned. Information-advertisement rings will be placed in the media. We will take every opportunity to provide all the necessary information to voters.
As I mentioned earlier, these elections will be of particular importance because electronic technologies will play a major role in them. This will allow us to observe and study the unique characteristics of technology use once again. Let’s see which information methods are more effective and use the experience we have gained to ensure that the elections in 2024 are conducted in accordance with international standards.
Modernization of elections can be a complex issue. The modernization of elections is a very complex issue.
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