As Georgia’s parliamentary elections on October 26, 2024, approach, reports of alleged pressure on election administration employees and the illegal processing of their personal data and attempts to use it continue to intensify. This time, the issue involves an alleged attempt by a representative of "TV Pirveli" to process the personal data of election administration employees illegally. Unfortunately, this is not the first attempt by the mentioned TV channel to process the personal data of administration personnel.

Despite the election administration being open to collaboration with all stakeholders, including the media, it is unclear why there is a need to process this information. No request was made to the administration for such details. Moreover, there is no legal basis or legitimate reason to process the personal information of election administration employees, such as family ties and relatives" places of employment, raising clear and objective concerns.

The questions posed by representatives of the media outlet to election administration employees or their family members, as well as how they were asked, do not serve any public interest, except for attempting to connect election administration personnel with the ruling party; furthermore, presenting their actions in a biased light due to the activities or potential activities of their relatives in various agencies that may result in harming the reputation of the election administration, disrupt the modernization process, and negatively impact the election environment.

We emphasize that, by law, family ties or the activities of family members or relatives, if any, cannot be used as criteria for evaluating the performance of any election administration employee. Election officials conduct their duties following the law and in good faith. Their performance should be assessed by stakeholders based on their actions, not their family ties.

The administration"s employees will continue their work in accordance with the law and with integrity to ensure that the elections are conducted at a high professional standard. The election administration will continue its tradition of defending the legal interests of its employees, ensuring that no pressure interferes with their professional duties or influences them in any way. For every violation of these interests, all legal measures will be taken, including notifying international partners.

We emphasize that we adhere to the highest standards of cooperation and are always ready to provide any media outlet with accurate and verified information on election matters. However, if any media outlet violates legal or ethical standards when communicating with administration representatives, we may be forced to reconsider our cooperation. This would be the only condition to ensure voters receive objective information about the activities of the election administration and its employees.