Presidential candidates assess chances of victory amid controversial exit polls

Independent candidate supported by the ruling party Salome Zurabishvili said she is happy that the results show that there will be no need for a second round of voting.

“Any decision of the voters will be acceptable for me. I want to thank my supporters once again and will be waiting for the preliminary data of the Central Election Commission,” Zourabichvili said

The united opposition candidate Grigol Vashadze, however, is also sure of a victory.

“We have seen that Georgian citizens want positive changes and they are fed up with the Georgian Dream government. Despite the violations and use of administrative resources, we have won,” he said, after the results of exit polls commissioned by Rustavi 2 by US-based Edison Research showed he and Salome Zourabichvili both received 40 per cent of the vote, while European Georgia’s David Bakradze received 10 per cent of the votes.

David Bakradze also thanked his supporters and said the exit poll results show ‘enough for conclusions’.

“The exit poll results show that we could not fulfil our task to win elections but our fight will continue in the future,” Bakradze said.

The exit poll results conducted by BCG Research on the order ofEuropean Georgia showed that Grigol Vashadze is supported by 37 per cent of voters, Salome Zurabishvili - 34 per cent and David Bakradze - 17 per cent.

The Georgian Dream ruling party has also released the results of exit polls conducted by Tbilisi-based research company.

The results show that Salome Zurabishvili is supported by 52.3 percent of voters, Grigol Vashadze - 28.1 percent and David Bakradze - 9.2 per cent.