Putin and his puppets stole Georgia’s elections – POLITICO

In the days since, the evidence has grown in abundance. Based on 900 reports from nearly a third of the country’s polling stations, local non-governmental observers discovered what they phone conversation a large-scale ‘pre-planned, organized fraud scheme’. And the reports from international delegations of election observers are unequivocal: these elections were neither free nor fair.

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

Overall published statistical analyses point to systematic election fraud and possible vote manipulation in more than 300 districts across the country, especially in rural areas. HarrisX, which has conducted more than 12,000 exit poll interviews, concluded that results could not be accurate in at least 27 of the country’s 73 districts, meaning Georgian Dream could gain as many as 172,000 additional votes in those areas alone. And the report stated unequivocally that the results published by the CEC were ‘statistically impossible’.

All this came to light within the first few days of the vote, without any of the sophisticated tools or independent investigation that will be needed to uncover the true scale of this operation.

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

The more time passes, 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 are unlikely to be sufficient on their own. I call on the EU, the United States government, the presidential campaigns for nominees Kamala Harris and Donald Trump, and the entire pro-democratic Western leadership to follow the example of Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson and immediately cease all cooperation with the regime of Georgian Dream.