Today is Election Day in Georgia

People around the country are being encouraged to take part in the 2014 municipal elections in Georgia today.

Voting booths opened at 8am across the country and will remain open until 8pm tonight.

In Georgia, 3,429,748 people are eligible to vote at one of the country’s 3,671 voting stations.

The elections, which are officially called the Elections of Representative and Executive Bodies of Local Municipalities, will see the first time in Georgia’s election history where voters’ lists have become biometric and photos of voters were added to registration forms.

The head of the Central Election Commission (CEC) said in her exlusive blog for agenda.ge the upcoming municipal elections were the most complicated and complex in Georgia’s election history. Seventy-one local self-government bodies - Sakrebulos (elected representative local councils) and 2,088 members of Sakrebulo, 12 city Mayors and 59 heads of local municipalities - Gamgebelis – will be elected today.

Twelve self-governed cities of Georgia will elect Mayors and Gamgebelis directly for the first time, according to changes to the Election Code. Previously only the Mayor of Tbilisi was chosen this way.

To win the Mayoral elections, candidates must clear a 50 percent threshold. If this is not reached, a second round of voting will be needed. The minimum threshold for Gamgebelis in the first round is also 50 percent.

For candidates named on a party list, the threshold decreased from 5 percent to 4 percent. A party which gains at least 4 percent in the elections will be able to endorse its members in its Sakrebulo (elected representative local council).

Twenty four political parties (among them are four blocs: "Georgian Dream”, "Non-parliamentary Opposition”, "Self-Governance to People" and "United National Movement”) were successfully registered by the CEC to participate in today’s elections.

The Georgian Dream coalition consists of six parties: Georgian Dream-Democratic Georgia, Georgian Conservative Party, Industry Saves Georgia, Georgian Republic Party, Free Democrats and National Forum.

The Non-Parliamentary Opposition consists of two parties: New Rights and Free Georgia. "United National Movement” consists of UNM Party and Georgian Christian-Conservative Party. "Self-Governance to People” consists of For Fair Georgia and European Democrats.

As for the Tbilisi Mayoral candidates, CEC registered 14 candidates. To find out more about Tbilisi candidates, visit the main Mayoral candidate’s profiles on Agenda.ge's special election page in the top right-hand corner of the homepage.

Georgia's capital Tbilisi has the highest number of registered Mayoral candidates. Batumi follows with 11 candidates while Ambrolauri, the central city of Racha region, ranked last place with only two Mayoral candidates.

Initiative groups are not allowed to register candidates as Mayor or Gamgebelis - heads of municipalities. According to CEC information, 32 international and 59 local organisations are registered to monitor the 2014 municipal elections. Just over 40 media outlets already accredited to report on the 2014 municipal elections.