Election Media Centers – Hub of Election-related Activities in Regions of Georgia

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August 30, 2016

The Election Media Centers located in Centers for Civic Engagement in 10 regions of Georgia play an active role in disseminating critical election-related information in Georgia’s regions. Since their official launch on July 26, the media centers hosted and organized 150 election-related events, engaging 3,453 participants (of those, 57% were women, 29% were youth, and 6% were ethnic minorities). Local and national media covered these events 104 times.

Political parties and independent candidates top the user list, organizing around 40% of the events. They used the centers to meet activists and party members to plan electoral activities and campaigning in the respective regions; organize public discussions on local and national issues of public concern; hold media briefings on electoral environment and violations; etc.

Local CSOs are the second most active users of media centers. They have held awareness-raising seminars and trainings for women, youth and first-time voters, election observers and other volunteers; conducted focus group discussions to study public attitudes towards the upcoming elections; held discussions to evaluate pre-election environment. International and local monitoring organizations held meetings with political parties, local CSOs, and media to receive information about the electoral environment and the new and recurring problems, also to coordinate activities.

The Election Media Centers initiated their own events aimed at: a) bringing citizens’ needs and concerns to the attention of politicians; b) scrutinizing election platforms and engaging the general public in discussing the key electoral issues; c) raising public awareness about elections in general and its importance for democratic development. Some of the CCE-initiated events included a public discussion to identify and highlight the main problems of ethnic minorities in Kvemo Kartli region; challenges of people with disabilities to participate in elections; debates of political parties and candidates over Georgia’s foreign policy; meetings between majoritarian candidates and local CSOs, media and the general public to discuss electoral programs and priorities; meetings and seminars for the local youth, some of them the first-time voters, to inform them about the major electoral developments and encourage their participation.

Local journalists used the Centers to record interviews with the single-mandate district (i.e. majoritarian) candidates from their regions.

The Election Media Centers are supported by USAID’s Advancing CSO Capacities and Engaging Society for Sustainability (ACCESS) project, implemented by East-West Management Institute.  The Media Centers offer citizens, journalists, civic groups, authorities, and election subjects a neutral space for organizing public events aimed at increasing citizens’ knowledge of and participation in the electoral process.

Below please find detailed statistics.