Polls for second round of by-elections open in Georgia

Georgians head to the polls today to elect an MP in the Mtsatsminda district of Tbilisi.

Parliamentary elections were held in Georgia in October, 2016, but the seat became vacant after former MP Salome Zurabishvili was elected the country’s fifth President.

Polls opened at 8 a.m. this morning for 43,909 eligible voters at 31 polling stations. Photo: Nino Alavidze/Agenda.ge

The second round of elections was needed as none of the candidates managed to overcome the 50 per cent threshold during the first round on May 19.

The second round is taking place between the ruling Georgian Dream party candidate Lado Kakhadze and the opposition Free Democrats and the European Georgia nominated Shalva Shavguilidze.

Kakhadze received 41.01 per cent of votes in the first round, while Shavgulidze received 36.84 per cent.

The election legislation prohibits any election campaigning at the polling stations on election day.

It also prohibits election campaign paid or free advertisements on TV and radio broadcasters or to publish public opinion polls until the voting ends.

• 5,169 observers of 52 local organisations have registered to monitor by-elections;
• 53 observers of 7 international organisations have registered to observe the race;
• 1,919 representatives of 45 media outlets have registered to cover the Election Day;
• 123 representatives of election subjects have also registered to monitor the process.

All the polling stations will close at exactly 8 p.m. and the process of counting votes will begin immediately.

The CEC Spokesperson Ana Mikeladze held the first news briefing soon after the polling stations were open in the Mtsatsminda district this morning. Photo: CEC

The Central Election Commission called on all eligible voters “to actively participate” in today’s elections.

CEC also addressed everyone engaged in the electoral process to help ensure that elections are held “in a calm and free environment”.