Four TV Stations Team Up for Exit Polls

Four networks ? the Georgian Public Broadcaster (GPB), Rustavi 2 TV, Mze TV and Adjara TV – have jointly commissioned exit polls for the January 5 presidential election and plebiscites.

The exit polls will be managed by a team of four organizations ? Georgian Institute of Public Affairs (GIPA), Ilia Chavchavadze State University and two think-tanks – the Caucasian Institute for Peace, Democracy and Development (CIPDD) and Georgian Foundation for Strategic and International Studies (GFSIS).

Six local research groups ? IPM, ACT, Sarke, ISSA, ISR, ARC ? have been contracted to conduct field work. Exit poll results will be available as soon as polling stations close at 8 pm local time on January 5.

Meanwhile, Imedi TV said on December 23 that it had commissioned Dialogue for Development of Democracy to conduct exit polls. Information about what Imedi called a ?European foundation? is unavailable.

Common European Cause, apparently a Ukraine-based organization, has also announced plans to conduct exit poll. Little in the way of hard information is available on the group, with representatives of the organization even refusing to name their local partners.

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