TI Georgia has summarised findings to date into two interim reports, which cover the periods of 8 November to 4 December and 5 December to 26 December. The major alleged problems identified include: the introduction of a number of unplanned social initiatives shortly before the elections by the ruling party, including increased pensions, increased salaries for teachers, and one-time vouchers for socially vulnerable groups; the initiation of a number of legislative initiatives that directly contradicted earlier stances, e.g. abolishing cash registers, giving amnesty for property disputes and releasing prisoners convicted of petty crimes; the active participation of public officials in the ruling party’s campaign with blurred distinctions between official and party activities; and the intimidation of opposition party supporters, regional campaign headquarters and voters. TI Georgia will publish a final report on the misuse of administrative resources at the end of January, documenting findings and providing recommendations for preventing the future misuse of administrative resources.

In addition to this monitoring, TI Georgia conducted media monitoring in the pre-election period, focusing on: the frequency of presidential candidates’ appearance on TV and in print media; the tone of coverage; frequency and pricing of political advertisements; equity of interviews, editorials and other print media materials, as well as TV stories about the candidates; and photos of presidential candidates in print media. The first report on media monitoring was published on 27 December 2007. The final data will be included in TI Georgia’s final report.

TI Georgia also conducted election day monitoring in preliminary detention facilities throughout the country, finding that only 7 percent of preliminary detainees were able to vote, as only 7 percent of them had identification cards required by Georgian legislation to cast a vote.

To read TI Georgia's report please click here.