Georgia Holds Local Elections

Georgian voters will elect 64 municipal councils for a four-year term and voters in Tbilisi will also elect the capital city’s mayor in first-ever direct vote.

3,694 polling stations will be closed at 8pm local time and first early official results of Tbilisi mayoral race are expected just after the midnight, according to Central Election Commission (CEC).

The ruling National Movement party holds majority of seats in all outgoing municipal councils, including the one in Tbilisi.

Simultaneously with local elections, in three single-mandate constituencies voters will also elect lawmakers to fill three vacant seats in the Parliament. MP by-elections will be held in Tbilisi’s Chugureti single-mandate, majoritarian constituency, as well as in two provincial constituencies of Ozurgeti western Georgia and Gurjaani in eastern region of Kakheti. These by-elections for three parliamentary seats will not influence to the current power balance in the parliament, dominated by the ruling party.

Few hours before the polling stations were opened, court in Tbilisi ruled positively on Christian-Democratic Movement’s (CDM) appeal to ban those Interior Ministry officers, mainly those serving in special purpose unites, who are on duty in barracks, to vote for majoritarian candidates running in single-mandate constituencies for municipal council membership. As a result they will only be able to cast ballot in proportional, party-list contest and those stationed in Tbilisi will also cast ballot for the capital city’s mayoral candidates. The Interior Ministry said on May 29 that although it disagreed with CDM’s court appeal, but would not challenge it.