Elections 2016: CEC indicates second round needed in 50 districts
Tweet 
Share
A second round of vote for Georgia’s Parliamentary Elections will be needed in 50 districts nationwide, latest preliminary results say.
This morning Georgia’s Central Election Commission (CEC) finished counting majoritarian votes from all 73 districts countrywide. In 23 districts a candidate from Georgian Dream won their race.
Meanwhile a second round will be needed in 50 districts to determine a winner. Of these, 18 districts are in capital Tbilisi and 32 are in Georgia's regions.
No party other other than Georgian Dream has a winning majoritarian candidate so far.
To enter Parliament a candidate must gain at least 50 percent of all votes at their respective voting district.
If no candidate gains at least a half of all votes, a second round of voting is held, where only two candidates with the highest number of previous votes compete.
With several exceptions, in almost all of the 50 districts where a runoff is needed, Georgian Dream candidates appeared to be the favourite followed by candidates from United National Movement (UNM). This means in a second round, people must vote between candidates of these two parties.
November 2 is the latest date when the second round of voting can take places, according to legislation.
On Saturday, October 8, Georgian citizens voted to elect the 150-seat Parliament of Georgia, 77 members through party lists and 73 in the majoritarian districts.
As for party lists, by 11am today, Georgian Dream leads with 48.6 percent, followed by UNM with 27.14 percent and Alliance of Patriots with 5 percent.
Monitoring groups and thousands of international observers have confirmed the October 8 Parliamentary Elections in Georgia expressed the will of the Georgian people and reaffirmed the country's democratic credentials.
UPDATED 17:10
The third party, the Alliance of Patriots, has overcome the 5% threshold for entering the ninth Parliament of Georgia, latest preliminary results show. The Alliance of Patriots party currently has 5.00323% of total votes.
"The UK aligns itself with the assessment of the OSCE’s Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights – and other international monitoring missions – that these elections were competitive, well-administered and generally respectful of the fundamental rights of the people of Georgia,” read the official statement of Sir Alan Duncan today.
Two European Union (EU) top officials say the 2016 Parliamentary Elections in Georgia were "competitive, well-administered and fundamental freedoms were generally respected”.
Opposition party United National Movement (UNM) gained the second highest number of votes in Saturday’s Parliamentary Elections but might refuse to participate in a second round of voting.
Germany and Latvia are congratulating Georgia on "the successful first round of its Parliamentary Elections”.
On Saturday, October 8, Georgian citizens voted to elect the 150-seat Parliament of Georgia, 77 members through party lists and 73 in the majoritarian districts.