In the 2024 parliamentary elections, the Georgian CEC (otherwise known as “Cesko”) is replacing the old, traditional methodology used in elections, with a newer method incorporating modern technology.
This change has been met with mixed reactions, some believing that technology cannot be trusted in something as important as the parliamentary elections, while others sticking with the belief that this is a much more efficient and precise way to conduct this process.
To get the most accurate information possible, the Gazette decided to interview Giorgi Sturua, the manager of electoral technologies at the CEC, who also happens to be a GZAAT alumnus from the class of 2014.
Giorgi began by breaking down the two components of any electoral process: the voters’ identification and the voting process itself. In these elections, technology has been incorporated into both components: “For the voter’s identification before there were lists of voters, but today there are also verification machines that in case of a dishonest committee member or any other person, make it impossible for them to meddle in the process of elections. In these lists, people are marked only for their specific district. If any other person comes into that designated electoral district, they won't be able to pass the identification and thus won't be able to vote. Regarding the security measures, on these machines, there will be photos and personal details of the voter with a printed version as well, so these technologies make it impossible for a person from another district to vote someplace else.” As for the voting process itself, it will be executed by a machine called the EOM scanner: “When a voter colors their chosen party on the ballot and this ballot is slipped into the box, the scanner identifies the choice and at the end of the day tallies up the results for the specific district.”
Big changes such as these in the electoral process naturally lead to the question of why they were necessary: were elections not safe or fair before? Giorgi clarifies that this is not the case: “This is just the development and improvement of electoral technologies. In the past, the way we used to hold elections coincided with the election methods of America, and Europe. Despite the misinformation, there are many mechanisms in place during the elections that check everything. In the commission, there are 17 members: 8 professionals, 1 person from the current government, and 8 from the opposition commission. Also, any other person can observe the districts during the elections to make sure that no wrongdoings are taking place and this sort of transparency ensures a lot of these categories. (View our article on observers ) The technologies bring a facilitated process of voting.”
Giorgi added that another advantage of these new technologies is that they will be able to provide results of the elections ahead of time since hand-counting is a lengthier process: “With these technologies as soon as all the districts close, approximately 2 hours later we will know most of the voters’ results and we can announce them. This will help decrease tension and false predictions of the elections.”
Even with the implementation of the new voter identification system and the EOM scanner, Giorgi made sure to clarify that in this election at least, the preliminary answers that the vote-counting technologies provide are not final: “The results will be recounted by hand. This recounted result is the one that will hold judicial power. From our pilots, the difference between hand-counted votes and machine-counted votes was only 0.00013 percent. From 400 000 votes only 70 were different.”
The technologies are supplied by the multinational information technology company Smartmatic. As for the process of choosing said supplier, Giorgi stated the following: “Generally, when the government makes a purchase bigger than 10,000 GEL, a tender has to happen. We held a tender with the aid of the procurement agency and the winning company from this tender was Smartmatic, which has the biggest experience with elections, and if I'm correct is one of the biggest companies in this market. It holds elections in America, Britain, Germany, the Netherlands, etc. So the company wasn’t chosen by us [the CEC], the tender’s winning company, which fits all the requirements put forth, must be our supplier according to the Georgian law.”
A common concern for new technologies is that people don’t know how to use them, however, Giorgi expressed confidence in the CEC’s informational campaign: “We held six-month expansive informational campaigns: including radio, TV ads, ads in applications (for example, Glovo), webs, game simulations of the voting process. We met with every big corporation, business, and public structure, and from the 3.7 million people who live in Georgia, we helped 700,000 people learn how to vote, not including those who were already informed by those online campaigns.”
Giorgi also emphasized the role of social media when it comes to misinformation regarding the safety of these technologies, mentioning that spreading false facts about the elections is a global problem, not just a Georgian one. He specifically referenced a research paper published by the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance, according to which “cases of disinformation against elections (processes, organizations, individuals supporting the management of the processes) were identified in 92% of the 53 countries across the globe mapped by International IDEA’s research.” (Ingrid Bicu, IDEA)
It is often assumed that the group most susceptible to misinformation, and thus most suspicious of incorporating technology in the electoral process would be the elderly, however, Giorgi explained that this is not entirely the case: “I had this expectation that we would receive a certain backlash from the older generation, however currently there is no recorded data of such fear or skepticism towards these machines from any specific part of the population. In the pilot elections that we conducted in 2023, the people we surveyed showed an overwhelmingly positive attitude towards these technologies. In the grand pilot conducted in July, 60,000 people voted with these machines and 97% of the voters appreciated this technology.”
However, Giorgi explained that there are still some severe cases of misinformation that are orchestrated solely to disturb the process: “Even recently a certain NGO was telling people to just circle the number of their chosen party instead of fully coloring it. This sort of behavior is unacceptable, but the CEC came out with a statement and tried to undo the damage done by these false claims. Georgia is a really small country and we have a small contract with Smartmatic, so they wouldn’t want to risk damaging their international reputation by conducting our elections: even a scandal with one country will make it so that no one else will want to associate with them.”
When asked about future plans on improving electoral technologies, Giorgi mentioned that there aren’t any, since the CEC has done everything it could’ve considering the current situation. However, they are constantly thinking of new ways to advance: “We’re continuously working to provide the Georgian population with updated methods of voting and with our current product it is the absolute maximum we can offer under the latest political situation. Since this is the first time we’re using these technologies, there aren't any concrete plans yet on how we can improve, because we’ve already done our best.”
However, it is important to mention that only a part of the Georgian population has access to these technologies. When describing the process of supplying districts with the machines Giorgi said the following: “The judicial sector told us the smallest number of people that have to vote electronically (70%) and if a certain district has to have more of these machines or less. We increased the number of the machines and supplied them. We just followed protocol.”
As for supplying emigrants with the same conditions, Giorgi explained that it is impossible to do so: “For emigrants, the deadline for the electoral list closes ten days before the elections and then it is incredibly hard to meet all the demands, and regulations, and to send out the machines to the emigrant voting districts in ten days, as it’s practically impossible to make such large deliveries at such as short notice.” While on the topic of people voting from abroad, Giorgi wanted to address some of the misinformation that he believes is being spread: “The CEC can only open a voting district in other countries if the number of voters on the embassy list is more than 50 and if they have diplomatic representation. If these points aren't met, we physically and constitutionally cannot open any more voting districts.”
Finally, Giorgi wanted to address first-time voters specifically: “Elections are such a sensitive subject that a person just has to immerse themselves into all the information and regulations available about these processes. You absolutely have to vote and know all the rights about protecting your vote. This is our responsibility toward the country: to be as objective as possible. As Confucius said: 'Don't search for a black cat in a dark room, especially when it is not there.' ”
Edited By: Tasia Kurdghelia
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