Disputed Elections in Georgia
By: Lavinia Klarhoefer
Nov 12, 2024
Ahead of the 2024 elections in Georgia, government crackdowns on civil society and political opposition raised concerns about the country’s democratic future. This week’s graph looks at four democracy indicators in decline in Georgia since 2016. For these indicators, a score closer to zero means that the situation worsened.
Flaws in the electoral process, such as concerns over voter intimidation, infringe on electoral freedom and fairness. Furthermore, Prime Minister Kobakhidze labelling the opposition as ‘criminal political forces‘ and threatening to ban opposition parties show the coarsening of political discourse.
The defamation of pro-democracy protesters and civil society actors as foreign agents show the disinformation tactics of government actors. Civic activists expressing dissent increasingly face political arrests and charges. These tensions constitute risks to electoral integrity.
Although the ruling Georgian Dream party claims the electoral victory, the opposition and the pro-European President refused to recognize the results and called for a recount of votes, which yielded similar results. International observers and the EU and US denounced irregularities in the election and have called for further investigation.
The V-Dem Institute’s 2024 Democracy Report identifies Georgia as a ‘near miss’ of autocratization in 2023, meaning that it showed signs of democratic deterioration. The election controversy further underscores Georgia’s democratic crisis. Continuing the current trend could make Georgia a confirmed case of autocratization.
