Georgia’s Central Election Commission (CEC) was awarded three international awards at the international symposium.

At the ceremony organized by the International Centre for Parliamentary Studies (ICPS) within the framework of the 19th International Electoral Affairs Symposium, awards were presented to CEC Chairperson Giorgi Kalandarishvili in three categories: “Electoral Commission of the Year,” “Election Management” and “Electoral Conflict Management” (supporting inclusive electoral process).

“The Election Administration (EA) of Georgia received awards in three categories, including the best election administration award. The winning of such a high-level award by the EA of Georgia confirms that the activities of the Election Administration are carried out in a proper, fair, and transparent environment following international standards. It further confirms that the administration does its best to conduct 2024 and subsequent elections at a highly professional level. I want to congratulate all election administrators. It is the result of their and our joint effort. I am certain that it is through joint efforts that we will be able to make every next election even better in our country”, Giorgi Kalandarishvili stated following the awards ceremony.

“This is a well-deserved award; it is universal and international recognition which Georgia surely deserves since in past years the CEC showed that it is a world-class election administration,” Matt Gokhool, Chief Executive of the International Centre for Parliamentary Studies (ICPS), noted.

The symposium was held in Lisbon, Portugal, from November 14 to 15. Giorgi Kalandarishvili, CEC Chairperson, Davit Kirtadze, CEC Member, and Natia Zaalishvili, Director of Electoral Systems Development, Reforms and Training Centre, attended the event. It is worth underlining that the CEC of Georgia was nominated in five categories, namely “Electoral Conflict Management,” “Accessibility for All,” “Citizen Engagement,” “Electoral Ergonomy,” and “Election Management”.

The awards ceremony concluded the two-day symposium. Participants discussed such important topics as “Elections amid pandemic – lessons learned during COVID-19 pandemic”, “Future of elections – voter identification, biometric data, and electronic voting,” and “Combatting disinformation: strategies for protection of election integrity.”

Giorgi Kalandarishvili delivered a presentation and informed participants on the work of the EA of Georgia. During the session about the future of elections and electronic voting, he spoke in detail about his experience in this direction and what the Georgian Election Administration is doing regarding the introduction of technologies. The CEC Chairperson emphasized the importance of voter information, as well. He also spoke about the challenges related to the spread of disinformation on the election topic, the importance of informing voters about election technologies, and the importance of fighting existing myths.

The International Electoral Awards Ceremony, organized by the International Centre for Parliamentary Studies for several years, is being held within the framework of the International Electoral Affairs Symposium. The Election Administration of Georgia has won many awards since 2013.