Georgia Moves to End Voting Abroad for Parliamentary Elections

The Georgian parliament has approved the first reading of amendments to the Electoral Code that would abolish polling stations for citizens living abroad during parliamentary elections — meaning voting would only take place inside Georgia, as is already the case for municipal elections, Orda.kz reports, citing The Caucausian Knot.

Parliamentary Speaker Shalva Papuashvili announced in mid-November that Georgians living overseas would only be able to vote if they returned to the country in person and cast their ballots at their registered polling stations. 

The opposition condemned the initiative, calling it an attempt to “cancel the elections,” noting the high number of Georgian emigrants worldwide.

According to Interpressnews, lawmakers supported the bill in the first reading with 76 votes in favor and nine against.

The draft introduces several changes, including:

• No more overseas polling stations for emigrants during parliamentary elections
• Parliamentary elections to be held exclusively inside Georgia, like municipal elections
• A ban on audio recording at polling stations, though photo and video documentation would still be allowed

Committee Chair David Matikashvili presented the bill, stating that the reform is intended to motivate emigrants to return home on election day.

The goal is for emigrants to come back to the homeland in large numbers on election day and share the responsibility for the country’s sovereignty and future governance,
 said Matikashvili, as quoted by First Channel.