Shocking Election Twist: Georgia Results Deemed ‘Statistically Impossible’ by Top Market Research Firm

The global data and market research company HarrisX, which conducted an exit poll for the parliamentary elections in Georgia, said today that the official results published by the electoral commission were “statistically impossible”. Soon after, the Georgian opposition called a new protest on Monday, Reuters reported.

The Georgian Central Election Commission (CEC) announced that the ruling Georgian Dream party won the election with 53.96% of the vote. The opposition and Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili described the results as fake, and the prosecutor’s office launched an investigation.

Three Georgian opposition parties have called for street protests, saying the election was rigged.

The analysis of “Harris X” shows discrepancies between the results published by the CEC, which cannot be explained from a statistical point of view, which points to possible irregularities in the voting.

The Harris Ex poll was commissioned by the Georgian opposition TV station Mtavari Arkhi. It showed that the four opposition parties are on their way to winning a parliamentary majority, Reuters recalled.

“We will meet at 19:00 (17:00 Bulgarian time) on Monday and we will tell you our action plan there”said in a press conference of the three opposition parties, Ana Dolidze from the opposition bloc “Strong Gersia”. He emphasized that the opposition will be carried out peacefully and within the law, but in an organized manner and aiming to achieve a specific result.

Georgian opposition leaders have said the ongoing protests are a key part of their plan to challenge the election results.

“This is the most direct and ancient form of democracy when a government refuses to listen to its own people”said Tina Bokuchava – leader of the opposition United National Movement (END).

The US company’s analysis strongly supports the objections of President Salome Zurabishvili and the opposition, who claim that the election was stolen, Reuters notes. Many in Georgia and the West see these elections as an important turning point that could decide whether the Caucasus country will return to Russia’s orbit or continue towards its stated goal of joining the EU.

The Central Electoral Commission insists that the vote is free and fair. Georgia’s prosecutor’s office has opened an investigation and called on Zurabishvili to provide evidence to his claims – something he says is the prosecutor’s job.

Monitoring missions, including the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, have highlighted allegations of serious voting irregularities, which Western countries say should be fully investigated, Reuters recalled.

“The analysis of our exit poll, compared to the final information of the CEC, raises questions about the final vote count published by the Central Election Commission of the Republic of Georgia”said Harris Ex.

“We are seeing statistically unexplained discrepancies amounting to over 8% of the total vote, or at least 172,523 votes, in at least 27 precincts.”

According to the company, the discrepancy “it cannot be explained by statistical variance, pointing to possible voting anomalies”.