TBILISI, DFWatch – Georgia’s ruling party has already started mobilizing supporters, before a date for the parliamentary election has been announced.

Georgian newspaper Mteli Kvira reports that the National Movement Party has begun compiling lists of of supporters around the various districts of Tbilisi.

Party activists are going round collecting passport numbers of people who are ready to vote for the ruling party in the upcoming election.

The newspaper has asked several independent election commentators who say that there doesn’t seem to be anything illegal with the ruling party’s mobilization.

Activists go from door to door and build up a list of people who promise that when they enter the voting booth, presumably sometime in October, they will circle the number of the the National Movement of president Mikheil Saakashvili.

Non-governmental organizations working on electoral issues say the Election Code does not prohibit this, but it depends on what way this list is used.

Previous elections have been blighted by various kinds of pressure being exerted on voters and by vote-buying.