Meeting with the Public Defender of Georgia, members of the Council of National Minorities, operating under the Office of the Public Defender of Georgia (Office), and representatives of the Working Group on Ethnic Minorities, established at the Central Election Commission (CEC) of Georgia, has been held at the CEC of Georgia. 

Meeting commenced with the opening remarks of the CEC Chairperson and the Public Defender. Giorgi Kalandarishvili delivered detailed information regarding modernization of elections, use of electronic technologies and significant importance of their introduction in electoral processes. He also highlighted implemented and ongoing initiatives of the Election Administration (EA) of Georgia in the area of informing ethnic minorities. 

Levan Ioseliani emphasized the crucial role of cooperation between the EA and the Office. He positively evaluated the EA’s implemented activities in regard to providing information to ethnic minorities. 

Sophio Sitchinava, the Head of the CEC Working Group on Ethnic Minorities, delivered the presentation on electoral participation of ethnic minorities on an equal basis with other voters. She also provided an overview regarding implemented initiatives in the regions that are densely populated with ethnic minorities, provision of information, organized trainings, and process of certification that has been jointly administered by the EA and the CEC Training Centre in the languages spoken by these ethnic communities. 

At the end of the meeting, a demonstration of electronic voting technologies as well as a mock election took place, and the meeting participants had an opportunity to firsthand experience how voter verification and vote counting devices function in practice. Furthermore, the meeting participants were provided with the new information flyers created by the EA as well as the Roadmap on Participation of Beneficiaries of Support in Elections that are also available in the Armenian and Azerbaijani languages. The flyers encompass the detailed information pertaining to the EA’s implemented initiatives to promote participation of ethnic minorities in elections.