Today is the first runoff in Georgia's election history
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Today is the day Georgian voters will return to polling stations to elect the Mayors of eight self-governing cities, as well as Governors (Gamgebelis) of 13 municipalities.
The Central Election Commission (CEC) held an early morning briefing at 8.30am today to inform election assistants about the process of the runoff elections.
CEC chairperson Tamar Zhvania said all elections precincts opened at 8am and so far, the runoff election was being held in peaceful circumstances.
She called on all eligible voters to actively participate in the elections and urge all the election stakeholders to ensure the conduct of free and peaceful elections.
The polling process will end at 8pm this evening after the CEC receives summary protocols from the Precinct Election Commissions.
"I would like to remind all electoral stakeholders that according to the election legislation, agitation is prohibited inside polling stations during Election Day. On July 12, it is also prohibited to air free or paid TV and/or radio advertisements and publish public opinion survey results 48 hours prior to Election Day and until 8pm on Election Day," Zhvania said.
During the polling day CEC will regularly provide information on voter turnout and polling process in general.
At each electoral station, each voter will receive one ballot paper (Mayoral or Gamgebeli) before they take their pick. All election precincts were well prepared and had received ballot papers, protocols and all the other necessary materials ahead of time.
The CEC announced the first sessions of the newly elected City Councils – Sakrebulos – would be held on July 14 and August 2.
After the first round of voting, results revealed the ruling Georgian Dream coalition gained 50.8 percent of votes, UNM gained 22.5 percent, while Nino Burjanadze - United Opposition got 10.2 percent.
Two candidates - Davit Narmania of Georgian Dream and Nika Melia of United National Movement (UNM) - will compete in the Tbilisi Mayoral runoff.
Latest figures revealed Narmania gained the highest number of votes (46.09 percent) in the initial election and would have to challenge Melia in the runoff, who gained 27.97 percent of votes in the June 15 election.
According to local law, a candidate must gain more than 50 percent of votes to win outright without a second round of voting being needed.
Meanwhile, final results saw ruling Georgian Dream coalition rank ahead of UNM for the party-list of the City Council, proportional contest.
Georgian Dream appeared likely to win the majority of seats in the 50-seat City Council, Sakrebulo, in Georgia’s capital city.
In Tbilisi’s Sakrebulo, half of the seats are distributed through party-list candidates and the remaining 25 seats are allocated to winners in the capital city’s 25 single-mandate constituencies.
Georgian Dream candidates won in 24 districts out of 25 single-mandate constituencies across Tbilisi. Election authorities said this meant Georgian Dream will have 13 of 25 available seats for the party-list, proportional representation, while UNM will have seven seats. Nino Burjanadze’s coalition will have three seats and the Alliance of Patriots of Georgia will have two seats.
Representatives of the relevant election subjects, as well as observers of international and local organizations and accredited media will observe the second round municipal elections.
"The credentials of the mentioned observers have been prolonged for the second round," Tamar Zhvania said.
Nine businesses are supporting an inventive initiative to encourage voters to take part in the 2014 municipal election runoff.
The Council of Europe Congress of Local and Regional Authorities Rapporteur is calling for a democratic political campaigning environment ahead of the second round of local elections held in Georgia this weekend.
Tbilisi Mayoral candidates representing Georgia’s two major political parties are set to go head to head in a live debate on national television.
The authorities responsible for conducting the 2014 municipal elections are preparing for the runoff elections.
The head of the Central Election Commission (CEC), which overlooks the 2014 municipal election process, believes the continuing issues resulting from the arrest of Tbilisi’s former Mayor is having a negative impact on the ongoing election process.
The Georgian Dream coalition has spoken out about the detainment of ex-Tbilisi Mayor and says the subsequent verbal abuse by political party leaders and activists against the authorities was "unacceptable”.
Georgia’s Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili is calling on citizens to "embrace their civil obligation” and vote in the municipal elections runoffs on July 12.
The election authority has announced a second round of voting is needed to establish the new Mayor of Tbilisi.
The second round of voting following the June 15 municipal elections is expected to cost about five million GEL, preliminary estimations reveal.
The European Union has assessed Sunday’s local government elections in Georgia as "a further step in the continued democratic development” of the country.
The General Secretary of ruling Georgian Dream (GD) coalition and Vice Premier Kakha Kaladze hailed Sunday’s self-government elections as a success and called on voters to support the second round of voting.
Election authorities have estimated the municipal elections runoff will be held in late July.
A Minister within the Georgian Government says the country’s leaders were brave to introduce a higher threshold for election candidates, as it made things tougher for the Government but encouraged a more democratic and fair election outcome.
Fourteen people are in the race to be Mayor of Tbilisi city.
The country’s Minister for Infrastructure and Regional Development, Davit Narmania, will stand down from his Government role as he prepares to run in the Tbilisi Mayoral election.
The Bill, which had been revised several times, outlined direct elections of Mayors in towns starting from this year’s local elections planned to take place this spring.
As of 10am, 117 409 voters, or 6.84 percent of eligible voters, had cast their ballot in today’s runoff Elections of Representative and Executive Bodies of Local Municipalities.
Two candidates running for Tbilisi Mayor cast their vote this morning.
The President of Georgia Giorgi Margvelashvili and the country’s Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili have cast their votes in the runoff Municipal Elections in Georgia today.
About 15 percent of eligible voters across Georgia have cast their ballots in the runoff municipal elections by 12pm.
About 24 percent of eligible voters across Georgia have cast their ballots in the runoff municipal elections by 2pm.
While there are several hours until voting ends at 8pm, the Central Election Commission (CEC) are calling for a higher voter turnout and are encouraging people to go to voting stations and take part in the runoff elections of the 2014 self-government elections.
Prime Minister of Georgia Irakli Garibashvili held a special briefing summarising the runoff elections and deemed it "successful".
The voting stage of the 2014 Georgian runoff municipal elections has come to an end. All polling stations throughout Georgia closed at 8pm. Authorities are now beginning to count the results.