Statement on International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy in Georgia 

NDI is proud to have partnered with the International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy (ISFED) in Georgia since 1995. ISFED is a global leader in nonpartisan citizen election monitoring, including the use of parallel vote tabulations (PVTs), to assess the quality of electoral processes and verify the accuracy of results. NDI provided targeted assistance to ISFED on its PVT for Georgia’s 2020 parliamentary elections.

In keeping with global best practice, ISFED conducted an audit of its preliminary findings following the elections, with support from NDI. In the course of this routine procedure, ISFED identified an error in the vote calculation formula used for the PVT, which had resulted in slight discrepancies between Central Election Commission and PVT results for three electoral subjects (political parties).These discrepancies would not have changed the number of mandates to be awarded to the three subjects. ISFED’s assessment of election-day processes was unaffected by the error, which has since been corrected. NDI commends the rigor and transparency with which ISFED has approached this issue.

Systematic election observation, including through PVTs, increases citizen participation, enhances political and government accountability, and provides a basis for recommendations for improvements to electoral procedures. With NDI support, nonpartisan citizen monitoring organizations have conducted more than 200 PVTs in over 50 countries to increase public confidence in well-run elections or enhance understanding of problems in the process. NDI stands by ISFED and the integrity of its election monitoring methodology.

###

For more information about NDI’s programs in Georgia, visit www.ndi.org/eurasia/georgia.