CEC: Voter Turnout in Municipal Vote 17.15% at 12:00
602,445 citizens, 17,15% of the total number of eligible voters, have cast their ballots in the municipal elections by 12:00, four hours after the polling stations were opened, according to the Central Election Commission (CEC).
The highest voter turnout was recorded in the Racha-Lechkhumi and Kvemo Svaneti region, where 30.76% of the electorate had already voted by 12:00. The lowest voter turnout was registered in Tbilisi – 12.93%.
“The voting process is continuing in a calm environment across polling stations,” CEC spokesperson Natia Ioseliani said at the afternoon briefing, adding, “As of now, no complaints have been filed with the district election commissions.”
Ioseliani also said the CEC had received reports that phone calls were being made to citizens on behalf of the commission, “allegedly to verify whether citizens cast their ballots,” describing them as preparations for “various provocative statements.”
She denied that the CEC was behind the alleged calls. “It seems certain individuals are deliberately using the name of the CEC to damage the institution and mislead voters through such manipulations,” Ioseliani said, calling for an end to the misuse of the commission’s name and urging everyone “not to harm the electoral environment.”
3,513,818 voters are eligible to cast their ballots in the elections today at 3,061 polling stations, including 2,284 with electronic voting. CEC expects to offer preliminary results based on electronic precincts in 1-2 hours after the polls close at 8 pm. The final results are expected later, after all ballots have been counted by hand.
In the 2021 local polls, which carried an added meaning of a “referendum” on snap elections, the 12:00 nationwide turnout rate stood at 17.72%, while the final turnout amounted to 51.92%. In the 2017 local elections, the 12:00 nationwide voter turnout rate stood at 16.5%, while the final turnout amounted to 45.65%
In the 2024 parliamentary elections, the 12:00 nationwide voter turnout rate came in at 22,22%.
The local elections take place across Georgia amid a partial opposition boycott, scant credible observation, continued repression by Georgian Dream authorities, jailings of protesters and opposition members, and a crackdown on independent media and watchdogs. The vote comes approximately a year after the disputed parliamentary elections, and just 10 months into the non-stop protests that erupted in response to Georgian Dream’s announcement to halt EU integration. A parallel mass rally has been scheduled at 4 pm at the parliament in Tbilisi with the stated aim of “peacefully overthrowing” the Georgian Dream government.
Follow our live blog for election-day updates.
For more context, read our backgrounders:
- Backgrounder: Georgia’s October 4 Half-Elections
- Georgia Anticipates October 4 Rally Amid Rising Tensions, Discontent
- Who Will (Not) Observe October 4 Local Elections
- Repression in Numbers
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