50 THE GEORGIAN LABOUR PARTY v. GEORGIA JUDGMENT – SEPARATE OPINIONS The lack of political balance on election commissions remained a source of concern. Some DECs [District Electoral Commissions] and PECs [Precinct Electoral Commissions] failed to maintain appropriate distance from the ruling parties, and some local authorities interfered in the work of lower-level election commissions. President Mikheil Saakashvili’s offer to reduce the number of his appointees on the DECs and PECs from five to three addressed some of these concerns. However, these changes came late in the electoral process and should have been extended to the CEC. ... The tabulation of results at district level was marred by irregularities in a number of DECs. In some cases, election material was delivered unsealed or inadequately secured, protocols were completed or changed at the DEC level, and in at least one case, the DEC members ‘negotiated’ the results. The handling of election-related complaints at some DECs was also inadequate. An analysis of the PEC results made available by the CEC showed a number of anomalous or implausible results in a significant minority of districts. Such anomalies included: a rapid increase in voter turnout during the last three hours of voting; an implausible voter turnout, in some cases exceeding 100%, and sometimes coupled with a share of the vote for the ruling parties in excess of 95%; and instances of an unusually high percentage of invalid votes. A total of fifty-two polling stations were invalidated by the DECs due to irregularities. The CEC cancelled the results in two districts in Ajaria (Khulo and Kobuleti) and ordered repeat elections for 18 April, which did not take place due to security reasons. The CEC’s decision to cancel the results and repeat elections in entire districts appeared to be based on questionable legal arguments. ... In fact, the CEC simply cancelled the entire district results without hearing testimony or investigating the circumstances at each PEC or establishing with any certainty if the number of votes at the annulled polling stations was sufficient to meet the criteria outlined in Article 105 § 12. Furthermore, the CEC did not examine the electoral material. Elsewhere, where results were annulled this was done by DECs or local courts. Notwithstanding the fact that violations took place in Khulo and Kobuleti districts, the decision to annul their results and call a repeat polling appeared inconsistent with the fact that major violations in other districts did not result in the annulling of DEC results there. ...” This is more than enough for me to conclude that Article 3 of Protocol No. 1 was breached in this respect. B. Exclusion of the Khulo and Kobuleti electoral districts from the countrywide vote tally of 18 April 2004 Here, I share the conclusion of the majority that there was a breach of Article 3 of Protocol No. 1. However, I come to this conclusion for reasons which partly differ from those of my distinguished colleagues.