Tbilisi Mayoral candidates cast their votes

Two candidates running for Tbilisi Mayor cast their vote this morning.

Today is the 2014 self-government elections runoff in Georgia, officially called the Elections of Representative and Executive Bodies of Local Municipalities.

It is the first time a runoff election has been held in Georgia following last month’s local municipal elections.

Today Georgians will vote to elect eight Mayors and 13 head of municipality (Gamgebeli) across the country.

In the capital city, Georgian Dream candidate David Narmania is challenging United National Movement candidate Nika Melia for Tbilisi Mayor.

Davit Narmania caste his vote with son. Photo from Narmania's official Facebook.

Narmania arrived at the N1 polling station in Saburtalo with his family. He said he cast his ballot for the political force which would "do a lot” for the capital and its people.

It’s a very important day today. It’s a second round of the Municipal elections which is going in a democratic and peaceful ways, Naramania said as he left the polling station.

Meanwhile Melia make his choice at N6 election precinct in Mtatsminda. He said Tbilisi’s new elected Mayor should be "independent in its decisions and not to be responsible to only one person”.

UNM Mayoral candidate Nika Melia made his choice. Photo from Melia's official Facebook.

He believed voter turnout for the runoff elections would be high and stressed "many people living in Tbilisi will appear at polling stations today, even those who did not vote in the first round of the elections”.

Narmania also believed the runoff elections would be supported by the public.

I'm sure that the activity would be sufficient because the capital city is not empty. Therefore, people’s interest to the election is increased and each voter understands that every single voice in winning, Narmania said.

After the Mayoral candidates put their voting paper into the official ballot box, Georgian Dream candidate David Narmania and United National Movement candidate both said they had voted for a better and more democratic country however it is most likely candidates made different selections on their ballot form.

Meanwhile, on June 15 in the first round of the municipal elections, a large number of candidates achieved the minimum 50 percent threshold. Georgian Dream’s Narmania received 46.13 percent, while UNM’s Melia gained 27.91 percent of votes.