Election Administration (EA) of Georgia continues the cycle of trainings to advance an inclusive electoral environment. As part of it, the sign language interpreters were provided with the training on electoral issues. During the meeting, the participants gained information from representatives of the CEC and the CEC Training Centre in regard to the crucial topics such as participation of voters with disabilities in elections, services of the EA for the voters in the pre-election and post-election periods as well as services of the Precinct Election Commissions (PEC) in the voting process.

The workshop had commenced with the opening remarks of the CEC Deputy Chairperson, Giorgi Sharabidze, the Operations Manager for Diversity, Equality and Inclusion at the International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES), Miranda Tkabladze, and the President of the Union of the Deaf of Georgia (the Union of the Deaf), Amiran Batatunashvili.

As part of the meeting, the sign language interpreters took part in the mock elections held by using electronic voting elections, and personally witnessed how the verification and voting devices function in elections.

Following the training, the sign language interpreters will be equipped with the necessary skills for providing information to the deaf voters about the services that are available to them and the procedures of the voting day.

The training commenced on September 17 and ended on September 19. It was organized in cooperation with the Union of the Deaf, and was financially supported by the IFES.