IRI Announces Delegation to Observe Georgia’s Presidential Election
IRI today announced it will monitor Georgia’s October 27, 2013 presidential election. Delegates will travel to Georgia to monitor voting and ballot counting throughout the country. Following the voting, IRI will issue a statement on the findings of the delegation.
Washington, DC – IRI today announced it will monitor Georgia’s October 27, 2013 presidential election. Delegates will travel to Georgia to monitor voting and ballot counting throughout the country. Following the voting, IRI will issue a statement on the findings of the delegation.
IRI’s delegation will be led by U.S. Congressman John Shimkus (IL-15) and Richard S. Williamson, Vice Chairman of IRI’s Board of Directors, former United Nations Ambassador and former Presidential Special Envoy for Sudan. Other delegates are:
- Mantas Adomėnas, a member of the Lithuanian Seimas;
- Charles S. Ingersoll, Jr., senior partner with Korn/Ferry International;
- Barry Jackson, a member of the Board of Directors of the National Endowment for Democracy and a strategic advisor at Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, LLP;
- Tami Longaberger, Chief Executive Officer of the Longaberger Company, Chair of the Arab Women’s Leadership Institute’s Board of Directors and a member of IRI’s Board of Directors;
- Constance Berry Newman, a member of IRI’s Board of Directors, former Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs and former U.S. Agency for International Development Assistant Administrator for Africa;
- Robert O’Brien, managing partner of the Los Angeles office of Arent Fox LLP; and
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Kostas Sasmatzoglou of Cyprus, Spokesman and Head of the Press and Communication Department of the European People’s Party.
Prior to the election, delegates will be briefed by representatives from the U.S. Embassy, presidential candidate’s representatives and Georgian election officials. They will also be briefed on the rights and responsibilities of international observers and Georgian election law. Delegates will then be deployed throughout the country where they will observe polling stations and identify and evaluate strengths and weaknesses in Georgia’s election system, including campaign regulations, the balloting process, vote tabulation and reporting.
Since 1983, IRI has monitored more than 150 elections in more than 46 countries, including Georgia’s October 2012 parliamentary elections, January 2008 presidential elections and November 2003 parliamentary elections.
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