Putin and his puppets stole the Georgian election

Nika Gvaramia is the leader of the Coalition for Change, Georgia’s largest opposition party. He spent over 400 days in jail as a political prisoner.

On Oct. 26, more than 2 million Georgians cast their vote in the most consequential election of their lifetimes.

For them, the choice on offer was clear: Become part of a free and democratic Europe, or get dragged back into the orbit of an illiberal and imperialistic Russian regime.

And for about 90 minutes after the polls closed, a bright European future seemed to beckon, as a pair of exit polls from reputable American research organizations — HarrisX and Edison Research — showed the country’s four pro-Western opposition blocs winning a clear majority. 

This meant that after 12 years, the Georgian people — 89 percent of whom are in favor of joining the European Union — had put an end to the the ruling Georgian Dream party’s increasingly authoritarian, oligarchic and pro-Russian rule.

However, we also knew that Georgian Dream, which ran its campaign on a promise to ban the opposition parties, was likely to use any means necessary to cling to power. Election day videos of ballot stuffing, voter and observer intimidation, and polling station violence had already gone viral before the vote was over. 

Anxiously awaiting the first results from the government-controlled Central Election Commission (CEC) — which had previously been hacked by Russian intelligence services —we were shocked when it announced that Georgian Dream had won by a landslide. But we weren’t surprised.

Rather, it was immediately apparent that the election had been stolen, along with Georgian citizens’ right to determine their own future.

The country’s political and civil leaders, as well as prominent pro-Georgian international figures, spoke up quickly and forcefully. And Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili, who represents our country’s last remaining independent institution, has been bravely leading the charge with great moral authority.

In the days since, evidence has grown plentiful. Based on 900 reports from nearly a third of the country’s polling stations, local nongovernmental observers have uncovered what they call a large-scale “pre-planned, organized fraud scheme.” And the reports from international election observer delegations are unequivocal — this election was neither free nor fair. 

The scheme included renting and confiscating voters’ ID cards before the election, artificial obstacles for independent election observers, as well as instances of fraudulent voting and multiple votes cast by individuals working with Georgian Dream observers and party-affiliated election officials. Moreover, upon receiving their voting slips, some voters were surprised to find they’d been pre-marked in favor of the ruling party.

Overall, published statistical analyses suggest systemic ballot stuffing and potential vote manipulation in over 300 precincts across the country, particularly in rural areas. HarrisX, which conducted more than 12,000 exit poll interviews, concluded that the results in at least 27 of the country’s 73 districts could not be accurate, potentially giving Georgian Dream as much as an extra 172,000 votes in those areas alone. And the report unequivocally stated  the results as published by the CEC were “statistically impossible.”

All of this came to light in just the first few days after voting, without any sophisticated tools or independent investigation, which will be required to uncover the true scale of this operation. 

We, therefore, call for an immediate and independent high-level international investigation.

The more time goes by, the easier it will be to cover up the theft of Georgia’s future. And while an investigation and strong diplomatic statements are both essential, they’re unlikely to be enough on their own. I call on the EU, the United States administration, the presidential campaigns for nominees Kamala Harris and Donald Trump, and the entire pro-democracy Western leadership to follow Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson’s lead and immediately end all cooperation with Georgian Dream’s regime.

By stealing the election, the ruling party and Russia have attempted to silence Georgians. The people, however, have already shown they won’t stand idly by. They’re ready to stand up for their country — and to do so peacefully.

The West should follow suit and declare its unequivocal support for our decision to be a free, democratic European country.  

This is about more than just Georgia and our people. It’s about the future of Western democracy.