From the Central Election Commission of the Republic of Georgia

A sitting of the Commission took place on April 4 1991 to summarize the results of the referendum held in the Republic of Georgia on March 21 1991.

The following question was put on the referendum:

“Do you agree that the independent statehood of Georgia should be restored on the basis of the Independence Act of May 26 1918?”

The Central Election Commission resolved as follows:

1. The total constituency in the Republic of Georgia was 3.672.402;

2. The turnout in the referendum was 3.334.286, which was 90,79% of the total electorate;

3. The number of those who voted was 3.326.100, accounting for 90,57% of the total electorate;

4. The number of people who answered ‘Yes’ to the referendum question was 3.295.493, which was 99,08% of the total number of those participating in the referendum;

5. The number of people who answered ‘No’ to the referendum question was 16.917, which was 0,51%;

6. The number of void ballots was 18.690, i.e 0,41% of the total number of voters.

Under Article 26 of the Law of the Republic of Georgia On Referendum, the question of the referendum shall be deemed adopted.

The constituency in the Abkhazian ASSR was 347.175, with the turnout of 61,27%, and 61,23% taking part in the voting. The number of voters who to the question of the referendum was 97,73% (59,84% of the total votes), and 1,42% (0,87% of the total votes) voted against it.

The constituency in the Adjarian ASSR was 224.788, 96,64% took part in the referendum and the voting. The number of ‘yes’ votes to the question of the referendum was 97,67% (94.39% of the total votes), and 1,42% (1.37% of the total votes) voted against it.

Note: Local authorities of the Gudauta District refused from participating in the referendum, so no registration of voters was done. The number of voters of March 1991 election – 36.060 – was taken as the total constituency of the Gudauta district. Only one polling station was opened in Akhalsopeli. Accordingly, the Election Committee had the right to include in the voters register all voters of the Gudauta District willing to participate in the referendum. 2.931 voters were included in the register, 2.931 ballot papers issued, including a ballot that was voided. There were 2.928 ‘yes’ votes and two ‘no’ votes to the referendum question.

Local authorities in the town of Tkvarcheli expressed their willingness to participate in the referendum only after all deadlines for establishing polling stations and commissions had been expired. Therefore voters from Tkvarcheli were allowed to vote at a predefined polling station in Ochamchre where the voters were listed separately and a separate ballot-box for used for voting. The list included 1.017 voters, and 1.017 ballot papers were issued. 1.016 voters voted for the referendum question (‘yes’ votes), and a voter voted against it. The number of voters available for March 1991 elections (12.975) was assumed as the constituency for the referendum.

The referendum was not held in the town of Tskhinvali, Kornisi and Java districts, but the overall number of the Georgian constituency included the number of voters from these districts. The constituency available for March 1991 was assumed to be the total number of voters: 6.786 in Kornisi district, 6.526 in Java district. 474 voters from Java district voted in Sachkhere, all voting ‘yes’ to the referendum question, so the above number was reduced by 474. In Tskhinvali, there were 26.594 voters registered by that time. Taking into account that according to census 1989 the number of Georgians in Tskhinvali was 16,1% of the total population, and that all of them have now left the town and living elsewhere, the total number of voters in Tskhinvali was assumed to be 22.312.

In the Tskhinvali district the referendum was held on the premises of 7 village communities where the number of voters was 11.376, and 10.182 ballots were issued, including 2 ballots that were voided. 10.180 voters voted for the referendum question. The referendum was not held in three villages: Geri, Dzari and Khetagurovo. In addition, in villages Bikari and Gromi populated by Ossetians the referendum was held by a district referendum commission elected by the general meeting of local workers of the state farm in Gromi. According to their protocol, 326 out of 329 voters in Gromi voted for the referendum question, and three voted against it. Out of the total of 283 voters in Bikari, 281 voted for the question, and two against it. Yet because the district referendum commission was not set up in compliance with law requirements, those numbers were not included in the final results. There were finally assumed to be 15.774 voters (by data of October 1990), and the number of people participating in the referendum and voting was 10.187.

(31 March 1991)

(Newspaper “Sakartvelos Respublika”, # 67, 5 April 1991/Translation from Georgian)