The pre-election period has been a busy time for Election Media Centers which operate at the Centers for Civic Engagement in 10 cities of Georgia. In October, 2017 the Election Media Centers continued to serve as a useful platform for political parties, CSOs and media representatives for organizing information sessions and trainings, media briefings, debates, and discussions between political subjects.
Two weeks prior to the Election Day, up to 30 events were dedicated to public discussions and debates with Mayoral and majoritarian candidates from across the country. Women Voter’s needs were also widely discussed between the CSOs and election candidates in this period: ACCESS’ regional grantees held presentations of the findings of their pre-election surveys that identified main concerns and demands of women voters. Another widely discussed topic was the use of administrative resources for campaigning purposes, donations to political parties, and campaign spending.
Political parties and electoral candidates were also frequent users of the Election Media Centers in pre-election period. They used the Centers to present their electoral programs with various audiences and hold coordination meetings and training sessions for their party representatives and activists.
On Election Day, the Media Centers provided working space for election monitoring organizations and journalists from 7:00 a.m. till late night. On this day, more than 250 people used the Centers for different purposes. Local Election-monitoring organizations and the Public Defender’s Office used the media centers intensively to collect information from their Election Day monitors and other sources, as well as to plan and undertake the respective actions. Local Journalists used the Media Center’s TV and IT resources to follow the news, share information, and organize live interviews throughout the day, as needed.
From their official launch (July 11, 2017) till the end of October, the Election Media Centers have hosted 308 election-related events, engaging a total of 6955 participants. Media Centers will continue their operations until the end of 2017 to host post-election events. All interested parties (CSOs, political parties, election-monitoring organizations, social activists, and others) are able to use the Media Center’s resources for free.
