Georgia bans voting abroad: what it means for expatriates

In Georgia, the authorities are preparing large-scale electoral changes that will deprive citizens living abroad of the opportunity to vote in elections. The ruling Georgian Dream party, together with the government, is already finalizing amendments to the Electoral Code.

This was reported by Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili.

After the reform, the country will allow voting only on the territory of Georgia. Thus, the authorities exclude non-residents – citizens who are permanently outside the country – from the electoral process. Papuashvili explains the initiative by the risks of “external influence” and foreign jurisdictions in which emigrant voters live. The official emphasizes that non-residents, in his opinion, are most vulnerable to manipulation.

The speaker also recalled that voting abroad is not allowed in Ireland, Malta, Israel, and Armenia.

The fifth President of Georgia, Salome Zurabishvili, has sharply criticized the government’s initiative. In a Facebook post, she said that the ruling team is isolating the country and moving it away from democratic standards. Zurabishvili compared the current government’s actions to the style of the USSR, which was based on “closure, repression, and elite privileges.”

It was previously reported that the Georgian Ministry of Internal Affairs fined OSCE Chairperson Elina Valtonen for participating in a protest in Tbilisi.

As a reminder, the Central Election Commission of Georgia announced the victory of the leading pro-Russian party “Georgian Dream” in the local government elections amid protests.

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