Election day in Georgia: polling stations open for 3,5 million voters
3, 703 Polling stations are open for voters since 8 am including 55 abroad. Photo: Nino Alavidze/Agenda.ge
Tweet 
Share
Today Georgian voters will elect the fifth president of Georgia in the second round of presidential elections.
The public is voting between government-supported independent candidate Salome Zurabishvili and opposition candidate Grigol Vashadze, representing the Strength in Unity coalition.
In the first round of the presidential elections Salome Zurabishvili received 38.64 per cent of total votes, while Grigol Vashadze received 37.74 per cent of voters’ ballots. Public turnout was 45.4 per cent.
3,703 polling stations are open to voters since 8 a.m. including 55 abroad.
3,528,658 voters are included in the official voters list published by the Central Election Commission (CEC).
More than 49,000 observers from local and international organisations are observing the election runoff in Georgia.
The first round took place on 28 October, however neither candidate was able to receive more than half of the votes in order to be elected.
Georgian Prime Minister Mamuka Bakhtadze has stated today that holding the elections in a free, fair and transparent environment has turned into a tradition under the Georgian Dream government since 2012.
The second round of Georgia’s presidential elections will be held on November 28, according to the decision of the Central Election Commission which was announced today.
The government of Georgia will allocate 10,583,022 GEL [4 million USD] for the November 28 presidential election runoff. The government allocated 42 million GEL for the first round of elections, which was held on 28 October.
Independent presidential candidate supported by the Georgian Dream ruling party Salome Zurabishvili says she is ready for runoffs at a briefing today.
Prime Minister of Georgia has voted at the polling station in Didube district of Tbilisi saying he has made his choice in favor of Georgia’s peaceful development towards Europe.
The Prime Minister of Georgia Mamuka Bakhtadze voted in the 2018 presidential elections, saying he voted in favour of Georgia’s “peaceful development and European choice”.
Georgian President Giorgi Margvelashvili has voted today and called on voters throughout Georgia to go out to the polls.
Deputy parliament speaker of Georgia Tamar Chugoshvili has appealed to the public to come out to polling stations and vote while ensuring that the elections will be held in a free, fair and transparent environment.
Voter turnout in the second round of Georgia’s presidential elections is 1.11 per cent higher at 10 a.m. than it was at the same time during the first round of elections held on 28 October 2018.
The ruling Georgian Dream party endorsed presidential candidate Salome Zurabishvili and the opposition candidate Grigol Vashadze have already cast their votes in the presidential election runoff.
The Georgian Personal Data Protection Inspector’s Office has called upon observers to provide evidence and any information they have regarding election-related lists with photos which are held by political party coordinators near polling stations.
Georgian Parliament Speaker Irakli Kobakhidze has called upon the United National Movement opposition and the “party affiliated” Rustavi 2 private broadcaster not to try to create an “artificially aggressive environment” on election day.
Georgian voters abroad can vote in 39 countries at 55 polling stations in the presidential runoff election today
The non-governmental organisation Georgian Young Lawyers Association has asked the Central Election Commission to suspend voting at a polling station in the city of Marneuli following reports of violations during the election process.