At the end of the election day, election workers pushed desks together, poured ballots onto the surface and hand-counted them.Election workers wearing light green smocks monitor a polling site in Tbilisi. The election worker in the center is opening and closing the slot through which voters drop their ballots into the clear receptacle. Kathyrne Harper is in the background sitting and conferring with her translator, Tea Kekelia, a Georgia native.By Kim Thompson
Staff Writer

As Howard County Clerk, Kathyrne Harper’s chief responsibility is overseeing elections. During her tenure as county clerk, she has overseen 13 elections.

It was her experience with elections that was a factor in her being selected to serve as an international election observer during the country of Georgia’s national election.

“I’ve learned a lot as an election official, and I wanted to share what I have learned with others, especially a new democracy like Georgia.”

When the former Soviet republic prepared to hold national elections on Oct. 1, 2012, the country’s leaders requested international election observers. Harper was among 31 observers who came from the United States.

Through the auspices of the Organization of Security and Co-operation of Europe (OSCE) Harper spent eight days in Georgia’ s capital, Tbilisi, from Sept. 26 to Oct. 4.

The OSCE traces its origins to the early 1970s when it was created to serve as a forum for dialogue and negotiation among European, Central Asian and North American countries.

With the end of the Cold War in the 1990s, the organization acquired an expanded mission which includes helping member nations to implement democratic principles.

As a relatively new independent country, Georgia wishes to eventually join with NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) and the EU (European Union). To be a member of those international organizations, Georgia must demonstrate it is holding fair and democratic elections. That’s why Harper and other international election observers became involved.

“It was an amazing experience,” Harper told Fayette Rotarians at their regular meeting Wednesday.
“The names of the political parties themselves were very interesting,” Harper said. “For example, one political party called itself  ‘Industry Will Save Georgia.’ The political parties were often concerned about a single issue. There was even one political party that called itself ‘The Youth Party.’”

During her service as an election observer, Harper was paired with a political science professor from Turkey. They were assigned a driver and a translator.

There is a high rate of participation in Georgian elections. About 80 percent of eligible voters went to the polls. Also, many young people are involved in the political process.

To verify that they had voted, voters had their thumbs sprayed with an indelible ink.

When asked what were major issues in the election, Harper responded, “They have the same concerns we have — health care, education — just like us.” Harper commented.

Harper commented that “it was scary at times.” There were “a lot of demonstrations and rallies.” One morning, 200,000 people gathered in front of the hotel where Harper was staying. They were advocating for the Georgian Dream, a coalition of political parties. “We just had to be careful not to get mixed up in that,” Harper said.

Also, during Harper’s stay, there was a Russian military contingent stationed near the Georgian-Russian border.

Harper remembers her translator, Tea Kekelia, commenting, “This is like it was four years ago.” Four years earlier, Georgia had been briefly occupied by Russian troops. Kekelia was forced to abandon her home in the region of Abkhazia during the Russian occupation. She has not returned.

“There is a strong relationship between Georgia and America,” Harper commented.

The Georgians show their admiration for past U.S. presidents George W. Bush and Ronald Reagan.

There is a section of highway named after George W. Bush called “The George W. Bush Parkway.”
A bronze statue of Ronald Reagan stands outside the presidential palace. The statue is pointing north toward Russia. The Georgians remember Reagan as a key figure in pulling down the Iron Curtain.