CEC: Voter Turnout 51.63% in Parliamentary Elections

Voters cast ballot at one of Tbilisi’s polling stations during the parliamentary elections, October 8, 2016. Photo: Eana Korbezashvili/Civil.ge

1,814,276 voters cast ballot in the October 8 parliamentary elections, accounting for 51.63% of total number of voters, according to the Central Election Commission (CEC).

The turnout is lower than in the 2012 parliamentary elections, when 60.8% of voters turned out at the polling stations.

The highest voter turnout was recorded in the election district No.73 covering Khulo, Shuakhevi and Keda municipalities in the Adjara region, where 61.43% of voters cast ballot.

The lowest turnout was in the election district No.31 in Gardabani, where 37.78% of voters turned out at the polling stations.

Polling stations in the October 8 vote closed at 8pm local time and the vote count is now underway.

“The CEC will upload final vote tallies from precincts on a website as soon as they arrive,” Anna Mikeladze, CEC spokesperson, said.

International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy (ISFED), Georgia’s largest election observer non-governmental organization, said that the “voting process has taken place in a calm manner”, with the exception of the precinct No. 48 in Marneuli, where “a group of violent individuals have attacked the building where precinct is located. As a result of physical violence, two citizens were injured, including one policeman.”

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