40 THE GEORGIAN LABOUR PARTY v. GEORGIA JUDGMENT “Prior to election day, the EOM [the Election Observation Mission] attempted to clarify with the CEC Chairman whether the CEC had the authority to cancel the DEC results. During these discussions, he [the CEC Chairman] indicated that it was certainly a questionable issue. While EC Article 105 § 13 grants the CEC the right to examine the PEC documentation, recount ballots and sum up results based on PEC protocols, the EC does not specifically grant the CEC the authority to annul the results in an entire district.” 128. The Court is particularly concerned by the fact that the CEC cancelled the electoral district results for Khulo and Kobuleti in their entirety without hearing testimony, investigating the circumstances in each precinct or establishing if the number of votes at the annulled polling stations was sufficient to meet the criteria outlined in Article 105 § 12 of the EC. The CEC did not even examine the electoral material. Elsewhere, where results were annulled, this was done by the DECs or local courts, as prescribed by law (Articles 34 § 2 (f), 61 § 5, 62 and 63 §§ 1 and 4 of the EC and paragraphs 50 and 53 above). 129. This leads the Court to conclude that, by annulling the election results in the Khulo and Kobuleti electoral districts, the CEC not only apparently exceeded its authority but also acted in a manner which excluded the possibility of resorting to legal investigative measures and remedies. 130. The Court does not call into question the veracity of the Government’s submission that irregularities took place at polling stations in Khulo and Kobuleti. Rather, the source of the Court’s concern is that the CEC set aside the results for the electoral districts as a whole without a proper legal basis or the guarantees of due process, thus suggesting arbitrariness on the part of the electoral authorities (see, mutatis mutandis, Babenko v. Ukraine (dec.), no. 43476/98, 4 May 1999). The decision to annul those results and call for new polls appears to be inconsistent with the fact that major violations in other precincts did not result in the annulment of the results of entire electoral districts (see paragraph 53 above). The Court is not aware of any convincing explanation for the CEC’s annulment decision, as the impugned Ordinance of 2 April 2004 contains no reasoning except for the reference to the nature of the voting irregularities alleged in the relevant electoral complaints (see paragraph 26 above). Nor did the respondent Government explain the reasons for which the CEC, without having examined the electoral material from each PEC and heard witnesses, came to the conclusion that all of the results provided by the Khulo and Kobuleti DECs merited annulment. The CEC’s choice to disregard the investigative measures envisaged by Article 105 § 13 – the opening of electoral packages and the recounting of ballots – and to annul the election results solely in view of allegations of voting irregularities (see paragraph 26 above), smacks of arbitrariness, in the Court’s view.