Officials Hail Elections, Opposition Complains

Some opposition parties have already expressed concern that the election process was marred by ?serious irregularities,? but officials called for them to refrain from voicing ?groundless allegations.?

28,81% of voters in the capital Tbilisi cast their ballots and 40,3% of voters outside Tbilisi by 5 pm local time, according to the Central Election Commission (CEC).

?I can say that voter turnout is quite high and with the polling stations? closure an hour away I can announce that the elections in Georgia were held to high standards,? Chalagashvili said.

According to the CEC, the margin of error in the voter list was ?maximum? 4,5%.

But the collation of Republican and Conservative opposition parties complained about inaccurate voter lists, where names of deceased persons were included. MP Zviad Dzidziguri of the Conservative Party said at a news conference that the two votes of deceased persons were used in one of the polling stations in Tbilisi.

But Guram Chalagashvili, the Chairman of the CEC, told a news conference that he visited that same polling station together with a group of journalists ?and we witnessed there that there was no signature under the names? listed by MP Dzidziguri.

?So these allegations proved to be absolutely groundless,? Chalagashvili added.

He also said that a serious violation was observed in one of Tbilisi?s polling station. ?Members of the precinct signed a final protocol before even closing the polling station; they agreed with the results of the elections on the precinct before the elections were over, which is a huge violation. We have ordered that all the members of the precinct be sacked,? Chalagashvili said.

The opposition Labor Party has also claimed that there are numerous irregularities in the election process, mainly related with the voter lists.

?We should wait for the election results; we should wait for the conclusions by the observers? I do not think it is right to make comments on each and every groundless accusation,? Giorgi Arveladze, chief of the President?s Administration, said.
 
All polling stations in Tbilisi are equipped with video cameras to record the election process. Officials say footage will be available for every interested party.

The CEC is expected to publish the first early election results by midnight on October 5.

Local municipal elections in Georgia were held through a mixed majoritarian-proportional elections.
 
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 were 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.

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