Georgian NGO takes election secrecy case to Strasbourg

The Georgian Young Lawyers Association on Thursday announced that the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) had registered its complaint over alleged widespread violations of ballot secrecy during Georgia’s 2024 parliamentary elections.

GYLA argues that the violations breached Article 3 of the First Additional Protocol to the European Convention on Human Rights, which guarantees the right to free elections. According to the organization, election authorities failed to properly fulfill their obligations, leading to what it describes as a “massive” infringement of the secrecy of the ballot.

The complaint also claims that Georgia’s legal framework imposes a broad restriction on citizens’ ability to challenge election disputes, rendering it inconsistent with the European Convention on Human Rights. GYLA contends that the right to an effective remedy was also violated during the handling of election-related complaints.

“This case presents a unique opportunity for the court to assess both the systematic breach of ballot secrecy during the October 26 elections and the fairness of the election dispute resolution system,” GYLA chairwoman Nona Kurdovanidze said.

The organization has called for the annulment of results in all 73 constituencies where electronic voting technologies were used. According to GYLA, 2,263 polling stations in these constituencies were affected.

The group argues that on election day, the secrecy of votes was compromised due to marker fluid leakage on the back of ballots, making it possible to determine voter choices even as ballots were placed into counting machines.