Evaluation of the pre-election environment for the 2020 Parliamentary elections

On October 31, 2020, regularly scheduled parliamentary elections will be held in Georgia. On June 1, the International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy (ISFED) launched nationwide monitoring of the pre-election period with approximately 70 long-term observers. The monitoring entails observation of the pre-election period, the Election Day and the post-election period.

Along with the launch of the pre-election monitoring, ISFED is presenting an evaluation of the pre-election environment with respect to the election legislation, as well as the political and media landscape in the country.  

It should be noted that the 2020 parliamentary election is an important political event in Georgia as it will largely determine the country’s future democratic development and trajectory of its reforms, as well as its foreign and domestic policies. The 2020 election period was preceded by gradual escalation of political processes that was caused by a number of events that took places after the 2018 Presidential election and culminated after failure of the ruling party to adopt the constitutional amendments for transitioning to the proportional system in late 2019. Although the adoption of constitutional amendments on the electoral system avoided further tension and protests, political polarization remains as a challenge. The media environment, as well as political environment, is very polarized and continues to face challenges related to media freedom and pluralism. It is likely that these factors will also influence pre-election campaigning.

The full report is available to download below.