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Transparency International Georgia (TI Georgia) and International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy (ISFED) have left consultations to select members for the Georgian Central Election Commission’s advisory group for election disputes.

TI Georgia and ISFED say that other organisations which have been invited to select members of the advisory group ‘can not ensure the selection of qualified and reliable people.’

They say that the CEC initially stated that observer organisations should select members of the advisory group by consensus.

However, on August 6, the CEC amended the resolution stating that if the members of the advisory group could not be selected by consensus, they still would have a second chance.

“During the second vote, candidates can be selected by the support of at least ⅔ of the observer organisations. This change made it possible for the CEC advisory group to be fully staffed by observers with a dubious reputation,” TI Georgia and ISFED say.

According to the June 2021 amendments to the Election Code of Georgia, within 10 days from the day of calling the elections, an advisory group of CEC with at least nine and not more than 15 members should be formed to submit recommendations on election disputes to the CEC.

The group should be composed of a representative of the Public Defender’s Office of Georgia and international or local experts selected by the election observer organisations.