In advance of the 2024 parliamentary elections, Georgian Association in the USA mobilized with an initiative group – GeoVoteUSA, to help spread accurate and timely information among Georgian voters. In the end, about 51% of citizens that had registered to vote were able to cast their ballots. The process was neither easy nor straightforward. Contradictory, often incorrect information, sometimes direct disinformation and, on occasion, even threats were observed to discourage new (and often undocumented) migrants from voting. However, this pre-election mobilization effort did boost the diaspora to come together and work together to seek betterment for our community.
Volunteers worked across the United States to help citizens get consular registration and resolve and troubleshoot common issues, liaised with the Georgia consulate, Central Election Commission, lawyers and legal experts in Georgia, to try and ensure everyone, who wanted to vote, could vote.
Unfortunately, the final decision was that new polling stations would not be opened besides the three cities – Washington D.C., New York, and San Francisco.
Once that was known, GeoVoteUSA volunteers helped voters coordinate travel plans from the perspective of matching visiting Georgians with potential hosts in Washington D.C. Area. In all, citizens from Florida, Georgia, West Virginia, Virginia, and South and North Carolina voted in Washington DC.
Georgian Association, in coordination with the GeoVoteUSA Group prepared and distributed voter stickers to bring together an American tradition and bring a sense of pride in this important civic duty among the diaspora members. Voters in each city received a sticker for their location.
On election day, New York City polling stations experienced lines that lasted nearly all day, with many voters turning away without casting their ballot. San Francisco and Washington had relatively fewer voters, perhaps given the distribution of states assigned to each as well as distances needed to cover – e.g. Texas assigned to San Francisco and Florida assigned to Washington DC. Although, there was at least one Georgian voter, who flew from Wyoming to cast her vote in California.
In Washington D.C. Georgian Association and GeoVote organized a community event in the park to allow voters to meet each other, build community regardless of their political party affiliation or preferences, and plan future events and activities together. In fact, those activities have already started to be implemented.
Special thanks to families and businesses – such as Supra Restaurant, who contributed food and drinks to compliment the initial offerings, Dr. Vasil Tsiskarishvili for his leadership in GeoVote and serving as the first-aid station, and everyone, who contributed funds that helped cover the costs of permit and insurance for the park space. We look forward to hosting community events again soon!
