Rustavi-2 TV, Georgia
Dec 7 2007

SPECIAL BALLOT PAPERS TO BE PRINTED FOR GEORGIA’S ETHNIC MINORITIES

[Presenter] Special ballot papers will be printed for [Georgia’s]
ethnic minorities for the 5 January [2008] presidential election, the
head of electoral administration has informed the Georgian ombudsman
[Sozar Subari] and representatives of the Religions’ Council. Ballot
papers, electoral lists, and instructions will be printed, along with
Georgian, in Russian, Azerbaijani, and Armenian languages.

[Subari] It is important that every [ethnic] group in this country
participate actively in elections and realize that this is their
future. Therefore, we welcome the decision by the chairman of the
Central Electoral Commission [Levan Tarkhnishvili] to meet the
Religions’ Council and the Ethnic Minorities’ Council that are
attached to our office.

[Tarkhnishvili] We have deemed it important that our voice reach each
of our citizens. On the one hand, elections are a tool that move this
country forward. Given this, it is very important to have every
citizen participating in elections. This is one message. A second
message is that every citizen should necessarily make a thought-out
and well-informed choice.