The Central Election Commission of Georgia (CEC) hosts the 8th Annual Meeting of Election Management Bodies.

The main theme of the meeting is “Technologies and Innovations in Citizen’s Engagement”. Representatives of EMBs of various countries, international organizations and vendor companies oriented on electoral technologies participate in the event as well as the headofficials of Georgian CEC and Training Centre

Thea Tsulukiani, a Minister of the Ministry of Justice of Georgia, Tamar Zhvania, the CEC Chairperson, Niels Scott, the UN Resident Coordinator in Georgia, Matt Gokhool, Chief Executive of International Centre for Parliamentary Studies (ICPS), Jerome Leyraud, Chief of Party, International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES), and Cristian Urse, Head of Office in Georgia, Council of Europe, made opening remarks at the meeting.

During two-day conference, adoption of new technologies and innovations in the election processes for ensuring voter engagement will be the major topic of discussion. Meeting participants will share their experience in this respect and discuss future plans.

Tamar Zhvania in her presentation emphasized citizen engagement in the election processes and the importance of use of new technologies in introducing new services in this regard. According to Ms Zhvania, two-day meeting will enable participants to find new ways for boosting citizen awareness and their active involvement in the election processes. This event serves as a perfect platform for EMBs and relevant organizations to share their experience and come up with important decisions.

8th Annual Meeting of Election Management Bodies opened on February 28 and will finish on March 1. Representatives of 21 EMBs, 10 international organizations, US Embassy in Georgia and four vendor companies oriented on electoral technologies, amounting to 105 participants in total are present at the meeting. This year, for the first time, EMB representatives from Colombia, Tunisia, Ecuador and Bangladesh joined the annual meeting.

The Central Election Commission of Georgia organized the meeting in close cooperation and support with the International Centre for Parliamentary Studies (ICPS) and International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES).

The meeting between the representatives of the EMBs is held annually; representatives of EMBs discuss exceedingly important topics and share good practices. Over the years, innovative services and effective electoral procedures, electoral integrity, inclusive elections, involvement of stakeholders and effective communications, electoral dispute resolution were discussed at the past annual meetings.

Countries participating in the meeting:

Bangladesh, Belarus, Bulgaria, Ecuador, Estonia, India, Jordan, Columbia, Kenya, Latvia,  Mexico, Moldova, Pakistan, Romania, South Korea, Georgia, Armenia, Tunisia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan.

International Organizations participating in the meeting:

United States Agency for International Development (USAID), Eastern European Centre for Multiparty Democracy  (EECMD), United Nations in Georgia (UN), The Delian Project, OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (OSCE/ODIHR), Council of Europe (CoE), International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES), International Centre for Parliamentary Studies (ICPS), International Republican Institute (IRI), National Democratic Institute (NDI).

Vendor companies oriented on electoral technologies:

Indra (Spain), Laxton Group (China), Smartmatic (Netherklands), Voatz (USA).