Repeat Elections in Four Precincts Go to Runoffs

Preliminary results from Saturday’s repeat vote at those four precincts, where the October 8 parliamentary election results were annulled, show that runoffs will be required in Marneuli and Zugdidi single-mandate constituencies as none of the candidates cleared 50% threshold to win outright in the first round.

UNM’s majoritarian MP candidate Akmamed Imamquliyev leads the race in Marneuli over his closest competitor, GDDG’s Tamaz Naveriani, by a margin of 68 votes, according to the preliminary results of the October 22 repeat elections. Taking into account these results, Akmamed Imamquliyev wins over Tamaz Naveriani with 48.11% to 43.43% of votes.

Georgia’s ex-first lady Sandra Roelofs of UNM and GDDG’s Edisher Toloraia were the main contenders in Zugdidi election district, where Sandra Roelofs was defeated by a margin of 543 votes in the Saturday’s repeat elections. Taking into account the results of repeat elections, Toloraia leads the race with 48.63% to 44.8%.

Invalidating of the three precincts in Zugdidi also required repeat local by-election there for gamgebeli (head of municipality) on October 22, but it failed to reveal an outright winner in the first round as none of the candidates cleared 50% threshold.

UNM’s Besik Gabunia (44.82%) will face GDDG’s Lasha Gogia (44.17%) in the runoff for gamgebeli of Zugdidi municipality. This latter has a lead by a margin of 515 votes, according to the preliminary results of repeat elections.

The Central Election Commission (CEC) said that runoffs will be held in Marneuli and Zugdidi single-mandate constituencies tentatively on October 30, when second round contests for majoritarian MP seats are expected in other 48 single-mandate constituencies, where the first rounds failed to reveal outright winners unlike those 23 districts, where GD candidates won outright in the first rounds of the October 8 parliamentary elections. 

The results of four precincts in Marneuli and Zugdidi single-mandate constituencies were annulled by election administration after some violations took place there during the October 8 parliamentary elections.

Voting in the October 8 parliamentary elections was disrupted by a violent incident at the precinct No.48 in Marneuli municipality’s village of Kizilajlo after opposition supporters tried to storm the polling station. Six men were arrested and sent to pretrial detention in connection to the incident.

Two polling stations in Zugdidi municipality – No.79 and No.108, in the village of Jikhashkari were raided and polling materials destroyed during the vote counting on the night of October 8. Two men were arrested in connection to these incidents; one of them, supporter of the GDDG ruling party, was sent to pretrial detention.

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