With only a few days remaining until overseas polling stations open for the October 26 elections, the Election Administration will follow all legal procedures to ensure citizens registered in line with legislation abroad can participate in the vote.

Nevertheless, interested parties are manipulating this issue to mislead voters. Statements are being made against the Election Administration, which fully complies with the law, alleging involvement in certain criminal activity. It is unfortunate that the President’s Office has also joined the discrediting campaign against the CEC, despite Election Administration officials having thoroughly explained the regulations and provided full information on overseas voting to both its representatives and the President in various meetings.

It is regrettable that the President of Georgia and her representatives, rather than supporting institution"s independence, are undermining it and creating the false impression that the Election Administration is violating the law and refusing to open polling stations abroad. We urge the President and her representatives to cease politically motivated attacks on the Election Administration and stop fostering false perceptions among voters. By doing so, they would demonstrate respect for voters both within the country and abroad.

We repeatedly clarified the requirements of legislation concerning the procedure of opening polling stations abroad which clearly states that polling stations abroad shall be set up by the CEC based on data provided by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Georgia not later than the 30th day before the Election Day. Polling stations abroad are set up for not less than 50 and not more than 3,000 voters being on the consular registry.

With only two days remaining before the implementation of this procedure, we urge stakeholders to avoid creating false perceptions and refrain from undermining the institution and the overall election environment by making demands that contradict the law.