CEC to announce first election results 5-7 hours after stations close
Some of the polling stations operating across Georgia remained open past the formal deadline of 8pm, shifting the timescale of CEC's counting of vote. Photo: Nino Alavidze/agenda.ge.
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The Central Election Commission will announce the first official results of the parliamentary elections five to seven hours after polling stations closed across the country, the body has announced.
A briefing for the media at the CEC said the initial data would be made available after "all procedures" related to counting bulletins of the polling. Election body spokesperson Ana Mikeladze said practice showed between five and seven hours required for the initial count.
Even though stations were to officially close at 8pm local time, voting at some of the polling sites continued beyond the formally established deadline, shifting CEC's estimation back.
The election body will also need to count more bulletins than at the previous polling in 2016. The October 31 elections had a turnout of 56.11 percent of eligible voters according to data available at 8pm, which is higher than the 51.63 percent of citizens who went to stations four years ago.
In numbers, the 2020 elections saw 1,970,540 citizens cast their vote - again by 8pm local time - compared to 1,814,276 in the 2016 edition.
A polling station election commission from a Marneuli Municipality village in southern Georgia has reported its summary protocol paper missing after the closure of voting at the location.
Opposition Mtavari Arkhi TV Director NIka Gvaramia said after the publication of its IPSOS exit poll results that the ruling Georgian Dream party is losing in the parliamentary elections, this is why the Central Election Commission (CEC) is not publishing the initial results of the voting.
Election commissions across Georgia have received 289 complaints about polling violations, the Central Election Commission said following the closure of stations, with most of the formal objections relating to "procedural" issues.
Polling stations closed in Georgia at 20:00, by which time 1,970,540 Georgian voters had cast their ballots in the Georgian parliamentary elections, says the Central Election Commission (CEC) of Georgia.
The ruling Georgian Dream party says that it has won the elections as all exit polls released by four different TV channels have put their vote count between 41-55 %.
The Georgian Ministry of Internal Affairs has started an investigation into nine incidents that were observed during the parliamentary elections today, announced Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs Kakha Sabanadze. He said that in total 10 individuals were arrested in relation to seven cases of administrative violations.
Exit polls commissioned by Mtavari Arkhi, Formula TV and Rustavi 2 say the ruling Georgian Dream party received between 41-53% in the proportional part of the elections. An election bloc or party which receives less than 40.54 per cent of votes (less then 76 seats in the 150-member parliament) in the proportional elections will not be able to form a government. Unlike previous elections, the parties which will receive at least one per cent of total votes will be allowed into parliament.