PM Kobakhidze challenges ISFED’s voting privacy violation figures in election report

Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze has questioned the figures presented by the International Society for Fair Elections And Democracy (ISFED) in its final report on voting privacy violations in the October 26 elections, calling the reported percentage inconsistent with the actual number of violations noted.

Speaking on Imedi TV, Kobakhidze cited ISFED’s findings, which indicated that privacy violations had occurred at 9% of polling stations.

However, he pointed out that out of approximately 1,000 polling stations covering around 700,000 active voters, ISFED identified only 25 individual cases of privacy breaches. Kobakhidze argued that this discrepancy raises questions about ISFED’s methodology and accuracy in reporting.

“In ISFED’s final report on voting privacy, they claim voting privacy was compromised in 9% of precincts. With 1,000 polling stations, this would mean around 90 locations with issues. However, ISFED only identified 25 specific instances where voter privacy was breached, across an electorate of 700,000 voters in these precincts,” Kobakhidze stated.

He added that the report’s findings might indicate a lack of precision in ISFED’s calculations, as 25 incidents do not correspond to a 9% violation rate, considering the scale of the election and the number of observers present.