The Council of Europe, together with the International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy (ISFED), organised a Workshop “Elections in digital times – new approaches in election observation”, which took place on 23 May 2023.

Natalia Voutova, Head of the Council of Europe Office in Georgia, Franck Daeschler, Deputy Head of the Council of Europe Elections and Participatory Democracy Division and Nino Dolidze, Executive Director at the International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy (ISFED) delivered opening remarks emphasizing the role and importance of domestic citizen organisations in the conduct of democratic elections.

The workshop aimed to support effective dialogue among decision-makers – high level election officials, domestic observers, political party and media representatives, which is essential to meet emerging challenges and solutions related to conducting elections in digital times.

The lively exchanges focused on the newly introduced electronic means in Georgia: the lessons learnt from the conducted pilots,  as well as the preparations of the 2024 parliamentary elections, with the use of electronic means nationwide.  Discussions focused also on the way to further improve the quality of election observation related to the observation of elections using information technology, and its closer alignment with international standards. Emphasis was put on the numerous Council of Europe’s intruments in the field of election observation.

Participants of the workshop included a broad range of electoral stakeholders: from representatives of the international community, including embassies of France, Spain, Swiss, Italy, European Delegation to Georgia, domestic citizen organisations, election administration, media, and political parties, including members of the Parliament.

The workshop was organised within the framework of the Council of Europe Project “Supporting Transparency, Inclusiveness and Integrity of Electoral Practice and Process in Georgia”.