The opposition coalition "Strong Georgia – Lelo" has filed a lawsuit with the Constitutional Court demanding the restoration of voting rights for citizens living abroad. The party maintains that the authorities' decision violates the constitutional rights of emigrants.

Coalition member Giorgi Sioridze announced that "Strong Georgia – Lelo" is launching a legal battle to restore the voting rights of Georgians located outside the country. According to him, the results of the 2024 parliamentary elections were a key factor in the authorities' decision to alter the voting procedure for those abroad. Sioridze noted that "Georgian Dream" received approximately 13% of the vote at overseas polling stations.

The opposition figure attributed this result to the fact that, outside Georgia, the authorities had fewer opportunities to leverage administrative resources or exert pressure on voters.

"In response to this, 'Georgian Dream' has effectively stripped our emigrants—hundreds of thousands of our compatriots—of their right to vote," Sioridze declared.

In December 2025, the Georgian parliament adopted a revised version of the Election Code. Under the new amendments, citizens abroad will no longer be able to vote at diplomatic missions or consulates, as overseas polling stations will not be opened.

The ruling "Georgian Dream" party offered a different explanation for the reform, stating that "this change helps prevent obstacles to the free expression of will abroad." Sioridze dismisses this argument as baseless. He pointed out that Georgian citizens abroad previously voted at specially organized polling stations, and the primary issue had been the insufficient number of such locations. "Their response and the message they sent to our expatriates—claiming that no one is stripping them of their right to vote and that anyone can simply come back on election day—was particularly cynical," he said.

The coalition is now inviting expatriates to join the legal proceedings. According to Sioridze, lawyers for "Strong Georgia – Lelo" have spent months preparing the lawsuit; they view the changes not merely as a controversial amendment to electoral law, but as a violation of the Constitution.

"This lawsuit will be made public, giving every expatriate the opportunity to officially join the case and become a party to the proceedings in the Constitutional Court," Sioridze stated.

He added that the coalition's lawyers are prepared to represent the participants. The party hopes that this move will lead to the overturning of the rule that has effectively deprived Georgians living abroad of the ability to vote without traveling back to their home country.