COVID Patients in Hospitals, Self-isolation to Vote through Mobile Ballot Boxes

The CEC adopted a decree regarding the participation of those being treated for COVID-19 in hospitals or self-isolation. The decree includes the setting up of electoral precincts and special groups and the establishment of sanitary and hygienic procedures. The Decree was formulated in consultation with the Election Administration, political parties, CSOs, and international organizations. The mobile ballot boxes will be delivered to patients by members of the specially created groups, enabling patients to participate in the elections, whilst also observing necessary sanitary and hygiene procedures and following all appropriate preventive measures against the spread of the virus.

The Central Election Commission of Georgia (CEC) adopted the Decree ‘on participation in parliamentary elections 2020 on October 31 for those being treated for COVID-19 in hospitals or self-isolation, including the setting up of electoral precincts and special groups and establishment of sanitary and hygienic procedures.’ The decree was formulated in consultation with a special group which was established at the initiative of the CEC and is composed of representatives of the Election Administration (EA), political parties, CSOs, and international organizations. ‘All citizens will have the opportunity to vote in line with safety regulations. The state authorities have a constructive approach towards how citizens who have tested positive for COVID-19 can vote in hospitals and quarantine areas, as well as in self-isolation,’ Georgian Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia said at a briefing at the Government Administration. The PM noted that some politicians and so-called experts have deliberately spread disinformation about the virus to spark panic in the population.

The Election Administration (EA) offers a service to all voters placed in medical facilities or in isolation to ensure their participation in the 31 October elections and avail themselves of the opportunity to utilize their right to vote. The offer to open separate polling stations for voters placed in medical institutions and in isolation and to provide them with voting by a mobile ballot box with the assistance of special groups ensures a maximum level of health and safety. In particular:

• The CEC will establish at least one polling station within the district election commissions (DECs) in municipalities and staff special groups in line with specially defined requirements;
• Representatives of special groups will deliver mobile ballot boxes to voters placed in medical institutions and quarantine. In addition, voters in self-isolation whose data is recorded in a database may address the EA for permission to vote at a mobile ballot box;
• Each member of the special group will be equipped with disposable coats, face masks, gloves, face shields, and any other sanitary-hygienic equipment deemed necessary;
• Vote counting will not be carried out in quarantine spaces or medical institutions but separately in specially established polling stations which will ensure the transparency of the process;

Special polling stations and their voters will not be connected with regular polling stations and the process will be provided with more security and protection of the process, including the opportunity for observers to participate. Observers, representatives of media and electoral subjects will have the opportunity to accompany the mobile ballot box, observe the voting day, and the vote-counting process provided they observe all the relevant rules. As of 20 October, 127 special polling stations have been set up for hospitalized and self-isolated voters and competition has been announced to staff the polling stations,  said spokesperson for the Central Election Commission, Ana Mikeladze, at the briefing. ‘It is important for the election administration to ensure that every citizen of Georgia and all parties involved in the elections have the opportunity to exercise their constitutional right to vote,” further noted Mikeladze.