Spokesperson of the Central Election Commission, Natia Ioseliani, claims that the statement of the Fair Elections organization regarding the gender statistics of the voters participating in the voting is “incorrect, manipulative and misleading.’
As Ioseliani stated at today’s briefing, she calls for Fair Elections, instead of trying to sow wrong perceptions, to fully publish the results of the parallel counting, after which speculations regarding voter turnout, gender and other statistics and general election results will finally end.
“Due to the high public interest, we once again respond to the incorrect, manipulative and misleading statement of the organization Fair Elections regarding the gender statistics of the voters participating in the voting. The CEC responded to the information spread by the organization yesterday based on legal norms and real facts, which absolutely excluded the opinion that the difference between the levels of activity of male and female voters on the election day deviated from the normal distribution. Despite this, the chairman of the Fair Elections organization, Nino Dolidze, issued another manipulative and incorrect statement, as if the CEC’s statement confirmed her opinions.
“We emphasize – at the briefing, CEC did not confirm the fact that the number of male voters participating in voting on the election day exceeded the number of male voters registered in all kinds of voter lists, but explained the circumstance that caused the so-called the error between the gender statistics produced on the day of the election and the preliminary data on voter turnout.
“The actual number of voters participating in the voting is determined by the summary protocols of the voting results, which are based on the results of the manual counting of the ballots in compliance with the requirements of the Election Code. Voter turnout at 20:00 on election day is preliminary data sent from polling stations. The final data on the voters participating in the elections are recorded in the summary minutes of the voting results of the Precinct Election Commission.
The CEC explained to the public that gender statistics do not represent official data, which were included in the results summary protocols. The mentioned data are counted by the registrars not for electoral purposes, but only for the purpose of processing gender statistics and may, taking into account the counting methodology and circumstances, slightly differ from the real gender activity, which, in a specific case, takes place only in a few polling stations.
“We remind you once again that voters included in special lists participate in elections at polling stations: election administration officials, voters in hospital, voters in prison, military personnel whose service conditions require their presence at an address different from the place of registration. Taking all this into account, there are 11 polling stations where the number of women participating in the elections was mistakenly sent from the precinct election commissions on the day of the election, which caused an error in the number of men participating in the elections, and it concerns 150 voters. Detailed information can be found on our website,” the CEC said.
“At the same time, we would like to remind the public that the organization Fair Elections stated that the results of the parallel counting carried out by it at the elections of October 26 are in accordance with the official data of the preliminary results of the CEC. Accordingly, we call on Fair Elections, instead of trying to sow wrong perceptions, to fully publish the results of the parallel counting, after which the speculations regarding voter turnout, gender and other statistics and general election results will finally end,” Ioseliani said.
Based on the statement of Fair Elections, as a result of the research, an error was detected in relation to the gender statistics published by the CEC for the October 26 parliamentary elections. The organization said there are election precincts where the turnout of men is higher than the number of male voters on the electoral list registered at the precinct. Based on their explanation, as a result of the analysis of the information requested from the Central Election Commission, “the number of female and male voters who turned out in certain areas deviates from the normal distribution and contains excluded or unnatural characteristics.” The organization members say the mentioned errors provide a means of manipulation and urge the Prosecutor’s Office to take an interest in the information they obtained.
