23:49, 29 October 2018

Georgian CEC announces second round of presidential election

Voting at a polling station in Tbilisi. Photo by Inna Kukudjanova for the "Caucasian Knot"

According to the results reported when 99.95% of the ballots had been calculated, a gap between Salome Zurabishvili and Grigol Vashadze, a candidate of the oppositional "United National Movement" (UNM) Party, was less than 1%. Since none of the candidates running for the presidency gains 50% required to win, the second round of the election will be held.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that after the Central Election Commission (CEC) of Georgia had calculated about 90% of the votes, independent presidential candidate Salome Zurabishvili, supported by the "Georgian Dream" Party, was in the lead, and she gained 38.61% of the votes. Grigol Vashadze with 37.69% of the votes took the second place.

On October 28, the voting at the presidential election took place in Georgia. Oppositionists and NGOs have reported numerous violations committed during the voting. The Georgian police launched an investigation into seven incidents.

The voting in the second round will be held within two weeks from the day on which the final protocol of the first round of the election was announced, and the CEC has 20 days to sum up the voting results in the first round of the election.

The "jam-news" reports that for the first time in history, Georgia was unable to elect a president in the first round of the election.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on October 29, 2018 at 11:24 am MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.

Author: Inna Kukudjanova

Source: CK correspondent