Presidential election runoff: 19.06% voter turnout by 12 p.m.
688,551 voters have cast their ballots in the presidential runoff by 12 p.m. Photo: N. Alavidze/Agenda.ge.
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A total of 688,551 voters, accounting for 19.06% of total number of voters, have cast their ballots in the presidential runoff by 12 p.m., announced the Central Election Commission (CEC).
To compare, in the first round of presidential election on October 28, 12 p.m. voter turnout stood at 15.95%, 558,755 people voted by that time.
The CEC reminds all involved in the election process that intervention in the work of the election commission is prohibited.
The CEC has uncovered several violations such as trying to cast votes twice and with an old identity card, and has promised to react appropriately.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Georgian President Giorgi Margvelashvili has voted today and called on voters throughout Georgia to go out to the polls.
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.
Russia-controlled so-called border guards are standing in front of the home of 85-year-old Georgian citizen Data Vanishvili to prevent him from voting in the Georgian presidential election runoff.
A total of 1,363,493 voters, accounting for 38.8% of total number of voters, have cast their ballots in the presidential runoff by 3 p.m., announced the Central Election Commission (CEC).
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 Prime Minister Mamuka Bakhtadze stated after hearing the results of exit polls that “there is no time to waste in celebrating the victory, it is time to work.”
The Georgian Dream ruling party endorsed independent presidential candidate Salome Zurabishvili, who based on exit polls has won the election, made her first comment and stated that her ultimate goal will be fighting for the reintegration of lost territories.
Imedi TV and opposition-minded Rustavi 2 private broadcasters have released the outcomes of exit polls, both saying that the Georgian Dream ruling party endorsed presidential candidate Salome Zurabishvili has won the elections.