In today’s session, the Central Election Commission (CEC) will address the establishment of polling stations abroad for the parliamentary elections scheduled on October 26.

According to the CEC, the election administration received updated data from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on 65,508 Georgian citizens with voting rights who are registered at consulates overseas.

As CEC spokesperson Natia Ioseliani mentioned in a briefing, polling stations will also be opened in countries where no voting was previously held.

“Based on this data, we will discuss the opening of 60 polling stations in 42 countries at today’s meeting. Notably, more precincts are being established for the October 26 parliamentary elections than in the 2020 elections. This includes countries such as the United Arab Emirates, Finland, South Korea, Japan, and Australia—places that previously did not have polling stations,” she stated.

The law stipulates that a polling station abroad can be created for a minimum of 50 and a maximum of 3,000 voters registered at consulates. Georgia’s election legislation does not outline additional regulations for the participation of citizens living abroad. Recently, attempts have been made to politicize this issue and mislead voters, despite clarifications from the election administration.

“We urge all parties involved not to mislead voters for political gain and to foster a healthy electoral environment. Our election administration remains committed to providing accurate and timely information to the public regarding election matters, ensuring transparency in all processes to prevent misinformation,” the CEC stated.

“We will share detailed information about today’s session and polling stations abroad as soon as the meeting concludes.”