The Questionable Election to Determine Georgia’s Fate

Georgians gathered to protest the contested results of the country’s parliamentary elections (Flickr/Jelger Groeneveld).

The citizens of Georgia took to the polls on Saturday, October 26 in an election to decide whether the nation would align with the EU or with Russia. 

Georgia applied to join the EU in 2022, and the bloc granted the Caucasus nation official candidate status in 2023. Had the pro-EU opposition gotten their way, Georgia would have been the first country in the region to consider EU membership seriously, challenging Russian influence in the Caucuses. 

The Georgia Election Commission announced on October 25 that the Pro-Russia Georgian Dream Party had been victorious with just under 54 percent of the vote. Opposition leaders, who all hold various levels of pro-EU sentiment but have typically remained divided, came together to dispute the vote immediately after the results were announced. They claimed the election had been manipulated by both the Georgian Dream majority, which has been in power since 2012, and Russian operatives attempting to secure their political influence in Georgia. 

In a surprising challenge to the ruling party, Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili stood alongside opposition leaders and joined them in challenging the election. She described the election as nothing short of a “Russian special operation” and urged Georgians to gather at a protest in the capital of Tbilisi.

Both partisan and impartial groups reported widespread voter fraud. The International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy (ISFED) claimed that serious violations of standards for free and fair elections had been committed, with reports of ballot stuffing, voter bribery, double voting, collecting personal information of voters, and the outright exclusion of voters. While alarming, it is unlikely that the Georgian Dream-ruled government will thoroughly investigate these violations.

Many Georgians remain hostile to Russia due to its 2008 invasion of Georgia and its subsequent occupation of internationally-recognized Georgian territory. For them, the election represents an attempt by those with pro-Russian sympathies, such as the billionaire oligarch founder of Georgian Dream, Bidzina Ivanishvili, to ensure that Georgia never removes itself from Putin’s influence. 

Ivanishvili, who made his fortune in the Russian electronics industry after the collapse of the Soviet Union, is by far the wealthiest man in Georgia and a strong supporter of Russian influence there. He founded the Georgian Dream party to curb rising pro-EU sentiment. While his explicit involvement in the party has been intermittent, his influence is undeniable. 

Many Georgians with pro-EU sentiment viewed this election as their last chance to pivot Georgian alignment away from Russia, but some remain optimistic. The Georgian Dream government has implemented Russian-style legislation targeting free speech and the LGBTQ+ community, which has motivated hundreds of thousands of people to participate in regular demonstrations. 

The path forward for Georgia remains unclear, but the pivotal moment to change the balance of power through the ballot box has passed. Those fighting to challenge Russian influence will be forced to turn to other means, likely including demonstrations and court challenges.