Vote count is over at all polling stations, showing the Georgian Dream-endorsed candidate Salome Zurabishvili winning the presidential race by a huge margin.
According to the returns from 3,705 precincts, Salome Zurabishvili garnered 1,147,627 votes, accounting for 59.52% of total number of voters, while her challenger – UNM-led coalition’s Grigol Vashadze received 780,633 votes, which accounts for 40.48%.
In the first round of presidential election on October 28, Zurabishvili obtained 615,572 votes (38.64%), finishing neck-to-neck with Vashadze, who had 601,224 votes (37.74%).
The runoff vote tallies, available at a special website of the Central Election Commission, shows that overall, Salome Zurabishvili has won the presidential race in almost all electoral districts in Georgia, including ten districts of Tbilisi, the country’s capital city.
Zurabishvili received the highest percentage support in Sachkhere, home of the ruling party leader Bidzina Ivanishvili, where she obtained 91.78% (24,810) of the votes, followed by mountainous Kazbegi, Lentekhi and Mestia districts with 79.34% (1,986 votes), 77.08% (2,247) and 76.55% (3,854) of the votes, respectively.
In Georgia, Zurabishvili lost only in the districts of Telavi and Rustavi, receiving 48.81% (15,868) and 48.49% (26,689) of the votes, respectively. Vashadze won these two cities with 51.19% (16,644) and 51.51% (28,349) support, respectively.
The vote count at stations located abroad showed the opposition candidate leading in the presidential race with 64.24% (6,135) of the votes, while the ruling party-backed candidate received 35.76% (3,415). This includes the results of two polling stations opened for Georgian troops stationed in Afghanistan where Vashadze won with 452 votes against 362.
For the runoff, over 15,000 voters were registered abroad, served by 57 stations in 40 countries.
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