15 hours until Elections 2016:
All you need to know from Georgia’s Election Commission

Georgia’s Central Election Commission (CEC) hosted a final briefing this afternoon to provide all key data ahead of the October 8 Parliamentary Elections. 

CEC chairperson Tamar Zhvania said: 

• 3,513,884 were registered to participate in the elections
• Tomorrow voters will elect lawmakers for the 150-seat Parliament of Georgia, 77 members through party lists and 73 in the majoritarian districts
• 19 political parties and 6 election blocs will run in the Parliamentary Elections
• On October 8 people will also vote to elect lawmakers in the 21-member Supreme Council of Adjara, Georgia’s western Autonomous Republic, in six election constituencies 
• Tomorrow voters will elect city councils, governors and mayors in several locations.  City council by-elections will be held in Tbilisi, Tsalka, Chiatura, Abasha and Zugdidi relevant local election constituencies; southern Akhaltsikhe area will elect a mayor while governors will be elected in Bolnisi, Kharagauli, Chiatura, Zugdidi and Tsalenjikha municipalities
• 3,645 polling stations will open all over Georgia for voters at 8am tomorrow
• 55 polling stations will open in 40 other countries
• 42,092 representatives from different political parties or blocs will observe the elections 
• 29,931 members of 111 local observing organisations will monitor the election process 
• 1,440 representatives from 55  foreign observing missions will observe the elections
• 5,368 representatives from 184 media outlets will cover the election process 
• Two magnifying lens will be available at each polling station for people with eyesight difficulties
• Blind voters will have access to a special device allowing them to make and independent choice
• 1,115 election districts were adapted for people with disabilities
• On October 5, Georgian peacekeepers cast their vote at two polling stations that had specifically opened in Afghanistan. These votes will be counted late tomorrow evening.

Zhvania urged the public to act responsibly tomorrow, and she outlined the responsibilities for media. 

CEC chairperson Tamar Zhvania held a final briefing ahead of tomorrow’s Parliamentary Elections. Photo By Central Election Commission’s press office.

I want to remind everyone that political persuasions are prohibited on Election Day at polling stations. 

TV channels are also banned from broadcasting free or paid political adverts tomorrow. Releasing of any public polls on the alleged outcomes of the elections is also illegal until voting ends at 8pm tomorrow,” Zhvania said. 

As soon as voting ends at 8pm, polling booths will close. The votes will be counted on-site and the results will be sent to District Election Commissions (DEC), where they will be uploaded in a special program and sent online to the CEC headquarters. 

Election protocols reflecting the number of votes for different parties or blocs, received from DECs online, will be gradually uploaded on our special webpage www.results.cec.gov.ge,” Zhvania said. 

On Election Day the CEC will hold six information briefings in the media centre at CEC headquarters in Dighomi district, 13 km, Aghmashenebeli Alley, to provide the public with latest information. 

Additionally a media centre at the CEC headquarters will also work non-stop where all observers and media representatives can get information.

For the first time in Georgia’s history, the public will be able to watch live counting of votes at the CEC headquarters on the CEC’s official Facebook and YouTube pages. 

Meanwhile if the public have any questions about Election Day, the voting process or anything related to the elections, they can phone the CEC’s special information centre on 2 51 00 51. Calls will be answered 24 hours a day. People can also go contact a CEC representative at www.cesko.ge if they have any election-related questions.