Georgian political parties, civil society and government actors are ramping up their efforts to improve the accuracy of the voter list for the 2012 parliamentary elections, a necessary step toward fair and transparent elections.

On November 15, President Saakashvili established a state commission in charge of verifying the accuracy of the voter list for upcoming elections. IFES, in cooperation with the Central Election Commission (CEC) of Georgia and the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights, organized a conference on November 22 devoted to identifying ways to ensure an accurate voter list.

Approximately 60 participants, including representatives from media outlets, non-governmental organizations, political parties, the CEC and the voter list verification commission discussed best practices and exchanged experiences in improving the registry of voters.

IFES Voter Registration and Data Management Advisor John Arran presented on international practices in voter list auditing and compilation. Representatives from the Civil Registry Agency and the CEC briefed participants on how these lists are assembled in Georgia and the methodologies used to address any irregularities. Director of the International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy (ISFED) Nino Lomjaria also shared ISFED’s recent experience auditing the voter list.

Mamuka Katsitadze, chairman of the newly established state voter list commission, spoke on how the organization should conduct its work, noting that more than 11,000 individuals will be needed to complete the verification of the list throughout Georgia.  IFES continues to support the process of voter list improvement through engagement with state and non-state actors to update the accuracy of voter information as well as encourage vigilant monitoring of the updates by citizens groups.