(Read full article on civil.ge)

The U.S. Embassy, in a starkly-worded statement on the second round of local polls, voiced concern over “wide-spread violations in the pre-election period and on both election days that adversely affected the ability of citizens to vote freely.”

The Embassy said this undermined Georgia’s positive steps forward, including the amendments to election legislation, adopted in June, which had “largely succeeded in increasing the transparency of the voting process.”

The statement pointed out that rather than improving the atmosphere by addressing problems identified in the first round of polls, “intimidation, offensive rhetoric, misuse of administrative resources, and reports of blatant vote-buying and other violations continued, and a politicized media further inflamed the polarized atmosphere.”