On October 26th, Georgia held elections that would determine the fate of democracy in their country. Unfortunately, democracy lost. The winning party ran its campaign partly on the platform of banning opposition groups. The election, and with that, Georgian citizens’ hope for a democratic future, was stolen.

More than 2 million Georgians voted in the election. The nation only has 3.7 million people. It was primarily a contest between Georgian Dream, the current party in power, and the United National Movement, the main opposition party. In other words, it was a choice between the pro-Western democracy opposition or the authoritarian, Russian-friendly, current regime. The verdict would determine if the country would work towards joining the European Union (EU) or grow closer to Russia. 

Georgia was granted EU candidate status last December. Over 80% of civilians in the country support joining the EU. The ruling party, Georgian Dream, does not agree. 

Georgia has an interesting history with Russia. The country is a former member of the Soviet Union until 1991 when it gained independence. In 2008, the Russo-Georgian War was fought for five days, resulting in 20% of the country ending up under Russian rule. Due to Georgia’s tumultuous relationship with Russia, most citizens feel threatened by Russia and support Ukraine in the current war.

Officially, Georgian Dream received 54% of the vote in the parliamentary elections. However, there is growing evidence that the election was not free or fair. The party has been in power for 12 years and has steadily chipped away at their country’s democracy. 


Exit polls by credible American organizations showed the country’s four pro-Western opposition parties winning a clear majority.  The opposition claimed victory after this, but the government-controlled Central Election Commission (CEC) declared otherwise. After protests, the CEC ran a partial recount of the election involving 14% of the country’s polling stations. The official results again showed that Georgian Dream won the election.

However, there is growing evidence that there was a large-scale, pre-planned, organized fraud scheme to make sure the Georgian Dream party won the pivotal election. There were viral videos on social media of violence and intimidation toward voters and election observers, as well as reports of ballot stuffing, double voting, and bribery allegations. Observers said these instances of election irregularities were especially common in rural areas. Some voters also claimed that their ballots had already been filled out in favor of the Georgian Dream party. An opposition party’s headquarters were attacked and two people were hospitalized in incidents outside polling locations. A Georgian monitoring organization, My Vote, said they had logged more than 900 reports of voting irregularities. Data analysts have also independently concluded that the election results show evidence of manipulation.

The four opposition parties are refusing to accept the results of the election. They have said that they will not recognize an illegitimate parliament. The president, Salome Zourabichvili, called the election a “total robbery of votes” and a “Russian special operation”. She then called for an opposition rally. Mikheil Saakashvili, the jailed former president and member of one of the opposition parties, also called for mass protests. Tens of thousands of people flooded the streets two days after the vote to protest the election. The protests are ongoing. They are demanding new elections under international supervision and an investigation into the suspected election misconduct.

The Western international community is also outraged by the election results. European Union authorities and the U.S. Secretary of State are calling for an investigation. European electoral observers are alleging that vote buying, double-voting, intimidation, and physical violence all happened during the election. Georgia is a vital trade and energy corridor to Asia from Europe, especially now that Russia is not a feasible option. However, it seems unlikely that the international community will issue sanctions in response to this election.

Free and fair elections are the bedrock of democracy. Georgia’s bedrock is crumbling faster and faster. Georgian Dream has been in power since 2012 and was initially liberal and pro-Western. That has shifted as the party has become more friendly toward Russia and authoritarian. The government did not impose sanctions on Russia after the invasion of Ukraine.

In the past year alone, the ruling party, Georgian Dream, has become increasingly authoritarian. In September, the government passed a bill banning same-sex marriages and gender-affirming treatments. It is remarkably similar to the ones passed by Russia. They also passed a law in May banning foreign influence in civil society groups and the media. If the organizations receive more than 20% of their funding from abroad they have to register as a foreign agent. Both bills were first vetoed by the president but the veto was overturned by parliament. The foreign influence bill’s controversy internationally also led to the suspension of Georgia’s EU membership process. 

During the campaign, Georgian Dream party members used hostile anti-Western rhetoric and promoted Russian misinformation and conspiracy theories. The founder of the party, Bidzina Ivanishvili, has campaigned on the message that the Georgian Dream party is the party of peace while the opposition is pro-joining the war in Ukraine. That fearmongering has worked among some voters. He is also a billionaire who made his fortune in Russia and has many ties to the country.

This election marks a decline in democracy in Georgia, one that will be hard to recover from. The leader of the For Georgia party (part of the opposition), said the election “will decide whether Georgia will be democratic or authoritarian [and] will decide Georgia’s future course … for the next decade”. In both the minimalist and maximalist definitions of democracy, free and fair elections are vital to the success and definition of democracy. If the elections have been compromised, then so has democracy. 

There is a substantial amount of evidence that Georgia did not have free and fair elections this year. This has not always been the case. Until recently, Georgia had good political stability, pluralism, and economic growth. They were a respected example of a post-Soviet democratic state. The country was pro-Western and committed to joining the EU. In the past several years, this perception has faltered with Freedom House now listing Georgia as a hybrid regime. Georgian Dream has excessively concentrated power and is trying to eradicate the opposition. For a democracy to work, a country needs multiple parties. Voters must have a choice of at least two entities to vote for, or there isn’t democracy. A country needs strong opposition parties. They have also restricted civil society groups and curbed human rights, specifically LGBTQ+ people. These actions signal that the Georgian Dream party is actively working to curtail democracy in Georgia.