Mamuka Mdinaradze, the executive secretary of Georgian Dream, claims that the head of the International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy (ISFED) was banned from publishing the results of the parallel vote count (PVT) for the October 26 parliamentary elections.

During a briefing at the party office, Mdinaradze criticized the USAID-funded organization for not releasing the PVT results more than a day and a half after the election. He suggested that ISFED’s delay might indicate external pressure or manipulation.

“We know—let me clarify—that the head of Fair Elections is being pressured and barred from releasing the parallel vote counting results. The so-called Fair Elections has yet to publish the PVT data,” he stated.

Mdinaradze recalled the controversy surrounding the 2020 elections, accusing ISFED of publishing incorrect PVT data and later attributing it to a technical ‘bug.’ He implied that this year’s delay is connected to the results matching those of the Central Election Commission (CEC).

“This is the same organization that previously admitted to incorrect PVT results in 2020, labelling it a bug. Now, they are hiding the results because the PVT data coincides exactly with the CEC’s figures.”

Mdinaradze urged ISFED to release the data promptly to dispel speculation and manipulation.

“They confirmed that the PVT data matches the CEC’s results but tried to communicate it as vaguely as possible to avoid drawing attention,” he added.

He emphasized the importance of preserving Georgia’s relationship with its international partners, particularly the U.S., given ISFED’s funding from USAID. He urged the organization to act transparently to protect the reputation of Georgia’s allies.

“This organization is funded directly by the U.S. state budget. We need to uphold our partners’ reputations. ISFED should release the PVT results without further delay,” he declared.

In response, ISFED stated that it would not publish precise PVT estimates for the October 26 elections, citing concerns about the integrity of the electoral process.

“The results of the October 26 parliamentary election, regardless of the outcome, cannot be seen as truly reflecting the preferences of Georgian voters. While ISFED’s PVT results verification aligns with CEC results, it cannot be used to validate the electoral process due to fundamental flaws in pre-election and election day procedures that hindered voters’ ability to express their true choices,” ISFED stated.