Georgia, Parliamentary Elections, 31 October 2020: Needs Assessment Mission Report

Following an invitation from the authorities of Georgia to observe the 31 October 2020 parliamentary elections, and in accordance with its mandate, the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) undertook a Needs Assessment Mission (NAM) to Tbilisi from 3 to 8 August. The ODIHR NАМ included Vladimir Misev, ODIHR Senior Adviser on New Voting Technologies, and Kseniya Dashutsina, ODIHR Election Adviser. The purpose of the mission was to assess the pre-election environment and the preparations for the parliamentary elections. Based on this assessment, the NAM should recommend whether to deploy an ODIHR election-related activity for the forthcoming elections, and if so, what type of activity best meets the identified needs. Meetings were held with officials from state institutions, as well as with representatives of political parties, media, civil society, and international organizations.