CEC Says Voter Turnout is ‘High’
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Some voters failed to find thier names on the list. |
Up to 22% of voters cast ballots in Tbilisi by that time.
“This figure gives us reason to say that voter turnout is quite high,” CEC Chairman Guram Chalagashvili said at a news conference.
The largest voter turnout by that time was in Chokhatauri constituency in western Georgia – 34% and the lowest in Rustavi, a town near Tbilisi – at 8,9%.
Meanwhile, some opposition parties have complained about problems related to the voter lists.
The CEC Chairman also admitted that while casting his ballot he met several voters who claimed that they were in the preliminary lists, but could not find their names on election day.
“We are trying to find out the details of the problem and deal with the issue,” Chalagashvili said.
Registration of voters on elections day is no longer in practice. Following prior registration, voters had the chance to make sure that they were on the list before September 12. Election observer organization New Generation-New Initiative (nGnI) said that initial voter lists contained numerous inaccuracies of various kinds, but the CEC has resolved most of them.
Chalagashvili also said that “the most serious” violation reported so far involved an election administration official denying an observer access to the polling station in Zugdidi constituency in western Georgia. The head of that polling station will be sacked, Chalagashvili said.
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Polling station in Tbilisi, October 5. The CEC |
Voters in Georgia go to the polls on Thursday to elect local municipalities – Sakrebulos – throughout Georgia in mixed majoritarian-proportional elections.
According to the Central Election Commission (CEC) all 3 005 polling stations throughout Georgia opened without delay at 8 am, including in upper Kodori Gorge, breakaway Abkhazia and in the Georgian-populated areas of breakaway South Ossetia. But local observer groups reported that some polling stations were opened “slightly later.”
The CEC is expected to publish the first early election results by midnight on October 5.
Six political groups – five in the opposition and the ruling party – will compete for a total of 1 736 seats in 69 local municipal councils.
But 282 of 1,025 majoritarian contests and 6 out of 69 proportional races will be non-competitive, with only one candidate or party list – in most of cases the ruling party – on a ballot.
With the four major opposition political groups (Industrialists, Labor Party, Georgia’s Way and a coalition of Republican and Conservative parties) competing separately in the local elections, the ruling National Movement party is likely to gain most of the seats in Sakrebulos throughout Georgia.
But beyond the question of who will win or lose, the elections are perceived as a test for the democracy of Saakashvili’s administration. The polls are also expected to show the approval rating of the authorities.
Analysts say the ruling party’s success will be overshadowed if the aggregate ballots cast for the four opposition parties at least equal to those cast for the National Movement.
The capital city Tbilisi, with one-third of the country’s voters, was the focus of pre-election campaigning, which was relatively moderate and calm.
After the 37-member Sakrebulo in Tbilisi is composed, it will then elect the capital city’s Mayor from among its members.
There are five candidates competing for the position: incumbent Mayor Gigi Ugulava of the ruling party; ex-Foreign Minister Salome Zourabichvili of the Georgia’s Way; Shalva Natelashvili of the Labor Party; Gogi Topadze of the Industrialists Party; and Koba Davitashvili of the election bloc “Davitashvili, Khidasheli, Berdzenishvili,” formed by the Republicans and Conservatives.
In a late-night televised address on October 4, President Saakashvili called for high voter turnout in order to show unity to Georgia’s ill-wishers and said that October 5 will be “a decisive day for Georgia’s future.”
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