Presidential election runoff: 7.26% voter turnout by 10 a.m.

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 Central Election Commission (CEC) announced that voter turnout as of 10 a.m. is 7.26 per cent, or 255,251 voters. 10 complaints have been lodged by district election commissions, several involving the use of photo and video recording equipment at the polling station, which is illegal according to the country’s electoral codex.

The secrecy of voting should be kept, any kind of control over the voter’s will is unacceptable,” CEC spokeswoman Anna Mikeladze said in a comment on the issue.

For detailed information about voter turnout by districts throughout Georgia, see the interactive live map by Agenda.ge synchronised with CEC data.

3,703 polling stations opened at 8 a.m. across the country, including 55 abroad.

The total number of voters on the list is 3,528,658 as was published by the Central Election Commission.

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.

In the first round of the presidential elections Salome Zurabishvili, backed by the ruling Georgian Dream party, received 38.64 per cent of total votes, while Grigol Vashadze, the opposition candidate from the United National Movement, received 37.74 per cent of voters’ ballots. Total voter turnout was 45.4 per cent.