DCM'S DECEMBER 5 MEETING WITH CENTRAL ELECTION

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 TBILISI 003051 SIPDIS SIPDIS DEPARTMENT FOR EUR/CARC E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV PHUM GG SUBJECT: DCM'S DECEMBER 5 MEETING WITH CENTRAL ELECTION COMMISSION CHAIRMAN TARKHNISHVILI -------------- Rumor Control -------------- ¶1. (U) In a December 5 meeting with DCM, Central Election Commission (CEC) Chairman Levan Tarkhnishvili refuted rumors that CEC short-term contract hires are going door to door to verify voter information and ask residents for whom they will vote. He stated emphatically that the CEC's door-to-door campaign finished on November 4th, and that if people are representing themselves as CEC employees, it is a fabrication. DCM encouraged Tarkhnishvili to reiterate this message at every opportunity, so that voters will challenge such approaches. Tarkhnishvili said that 19 candidates were canvassing neighborhoods collecting the necessary 50,000 signatures by December 6 deadlines. He thought that some of the rumors could be linked to this. The CEC Chairman scoffed at the idea that information about who is registered in a precinct, but not currently living there could be used to commit voter fraud. He said that the safeguards of finger inking and double controls of ID and voter registration card, plus the presence of over 20 registered observer organizations totally negate this possibility. ¶2. (U) Tarkhnishvili was not aware that opposition candidates claim they are being unable to lease office space in the CEC offices regions or that NMP activists are collecting and holding voters' ID cards until after the election. He confirmed the CEC has regional offices, but said the landlords have final authority to approve renters, not the CEC. He did say the CEC has made efforts to publicize information about available office space on the ground floors of CEC regional office buildings. Tarkhnishvili said that he was willing to address these claims, but he needs specific data, not just hearsay. -------------- Timely Posting Of Information -------------- ¶3. (U) Tarkhnishvili said the CEC plans to issue certificates of candidacy on 14 December to all candidates who registered on time and have the 50,000 required signatures by 1800 on 6 December. On 17 December there will be a public announcement of all the legally registered candidates. He recognized the necessity of collecting and posting voting results in a timely manner, but pointed out that most Precinct Election Commission (PEC) did not have the �00A;capability to send results directly to the CEC. He is working now with NDI to purchase around 3,400 fax machines to install this capability. The job is even more challenging with the advent of more PECs, due to changing the precincts from 2000 to 1500 voters. The CEC will have a large screen its Press Center on Election Day where the results will be posted by region to inform the press. Additionally, Tarkhnishvili said the CEC will be able to post preliminary results by 1500 on January 6. -------------- Sour Grapes in Kakheti -------------- ¶4. (U) Tarkhnishvili had not heard about the incident of a local businessman, Isako Tsipurnishvili threatening Ramaz Samkbaradze, Director, Radio Hereti, in Lagodekhi, Kakheti. In a recorded conversation, Tsipurnishvili warned Samkbaradze to "stay away from cracking down on personalities" during election coverage. Tsipurnishvili offered Samkbaradze a bribe if he would temper his criticism of the National Movement. Otherwise, he threatened to have Hereti's license revoked or worse. DCM offered to send the CEC Chairman a copy of the transcript so he can follow up on the incident. The Public Defender's Office released a transcript of the conversation to Channel One and Rustavi 2, and called the National Communications Commission. As of now, Hereti is on the air. -------------- G.I. Joe--Where does he go? -------------- ¶5. (U) Tarkhnishvili said that there is a small legislative hiccup with coordinating voting for military outside of Georgia as currently there is no provision in the law for voting by soldiers abroad. It is permissible to open a PEC outside of Georgia for citizens living abroad if they are registered with the Georgian Consulate in a given country. Unfortunately, there is no consulate, for example, in Iraq. The most likely solution is that a special PEC for military members would be created in Iraq, but it would be directly TBILISI 00003051 002 OF 002 linked to the CEC. According to the CEC Chairman, they have at least two more weeks in which to address this issue. -------------- Morning After Blues -------------- ¶6. (U) Tarkhnishvili was concerned more with the day following the elections than Election Day itself. He worries that political forces who do not win will claim that the election results are false and biased. His specific concern is that there will be a long delay between the PEC closing and the posting of preliminary results. If before this period was filled by parallel vote tabulation (PVT) and exit polling, this time there will only be PVT results. He underscored that everyone has a special responsibility to behave responsibly and think twice about making statements before they have all the facts. -------------- Election Crimes -------------- ¶7. (U) Tarkhnishvili agreed to send a CEC representative to attend the Department Of Justice (DOJ) training at the Prosecutor's Office 13-14 December. One DOJ representative from St. Louis and one representative from the Las Vegas Office of the FBI will conduct the training for over 50 prosecutors on the theme of election crimes. TEFFT