Georgian Dream is pushing ahead with a major overhaul of Georgia’s Election Code. At a briefing this week, Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili announced that one of the most radical proposals would mean Georgian citizens living abroad could no longer vote from foreign polling stations — they’d be required to return to Georgia to cast their ballots. He framed the change as a necessary step to protect elections from external interference, arguing that citizens abroad may be exposed to political pressure, manipulated information, or foreign influence in a way that those living in Georgia are not.
Papuashvili emphasizes that this isn’t about stripping away rights — rather, it’s about restructuring how votes are cast. He insists that every Georgian abroad still retains full voting rights, but under the new draft, they’ll have to come home at least once every four years to exercise them.
He even cites constitutional grounding, pointing to Article 24 as justifying the state’s duty to safeguard the integrity of elections. To bolster his case, he points to other countries — like Ireland, Malta, Israel, and Armenia — that, in his view, have similar models.
But not everyone is convinced. ISFED, a leading Georgian election-monitoring NGO, has strongly condemned the plan, calling it a “step against inclusive democracy.” In their view, requiring diaspora Georgians to vote only on home soil undermines the principle of universal suffrage and appears politically motivated — especially since ISFED notes that Georgian Dream won only about 13% of the votes cast abroad in the 2024 elections, compared to roughly 54% nationwide.
Beyond the numbers, critics are alarmed by the process. They say such a sweeping change is being pushed through without meaningful consultation with civil society, diaspora communities, or electoral experts — a pattern, they argue, that has become more common under recent reforms.
Legal scholars are also sounding the alarm. One constitutionalist wrote that this move is “equivalent to depriving emigrants of their citizenship,” warning that it deepens the divide between Georgia and its diaspora. Nino Dolidze, a former head of ISFED, described the change as “an extremely backward step” that effectively excludes Georgians abroad from fully participating in their homeland’s political life.
There’s also a larger context to consider. Critics point out that these proposed changes come alongside growing concerns about democratic backsliding in Georgia. Since the 2024 parliamentary elections, which were already contentious, there have been growing frustrations about how reforms are being made — especially when they appear to favor the ruling party. The debate is now not just legal, but deeply political, touching on identity, democracy, and who gets to shape the future of Georgia.
By Team GT
