On October 26, Georgians voted in a pivotal election for the parliament, which is often referred to as a referendum about the country’s choice of Europe or Russia.
Pro-Western alliances will try to challenge the 12-year authoritarian rule by Georgian Dream – a party founded by billionaire Bidzina Ilvanishvili and led since its founding. The ruling party has attempted to rally support through fear-mongering and exploiting political and cultural homophobia.
Georgian Dream, who has promised to intensify repression in the event of victory, had been cracking down on dissent for months before the elections. The European Union suspended Georgia’s accession to the EU because of the anti-Western propaganda and anti-democratic actions of the government.
Key Facts
Main Contenders
Georgians elect 150 members of the legislature in their very first proportional elections without runoffs. Only parties with 5% of the votes will be allowed to enter parliament. 18 political parties/coalitions are registered to run in the elections.
Many opposition groups have formed alliances to increase their chances of defeating the wealthy and powerful Georgian Dream. This is due to the 5% anti-government threshold. The most likely alliances to pass the 5% threshold are Unity – to Save Georgia(United National Movement+Strategy Agmashenebeli), Coalition for Change(Ahali+Girchi-More Freedom+Droa), Strong Georgia(Lelo for Georgia), For People, Citizens and Freedom Square), as well as For Georgia (led ex-prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia).
All four have signed The President’s Georgian Charter which calls for an year of technocratic rule by the government to pass EU Reforms. The libertarian Girchi Party also has kingmaker aspirations, hoping to get a few percentages of the vote. It is not ruling out a coalition either with opposition or Georgian Dream. The Alliance of Patriots/Alt-Info is competing for votes from the far-right, while the Labor Party is also trying to gain some support from the opposition.
No clear winner is predicted for the race, which is expected to be very close. Opinion polls have contradictory results. Those commissioned by government critical TV stations give the opposition the lead while those commissioned pro-government television stations predict a secure victory for the ruling parties.
Election Day
Georgian polls open at 8 am and close at 8 pm local time. In 3,111 precincts in 42 countries, 3,508,294 voters are registered and eligible to vote. 95,910 of the registered voters are registered overseas, a 45% increase compared to the 2020 elections.
A greater participation of youth voters is also expected with 135,922 new voters.
This is the first Georgian elections to be conducted primarily with electronic voting. Voters will cast their ballots at polling station using electronic machines which verify and count the results. This new procedure will be used by approximately 90% (3,113747) of voters. Remote and overseas constituencies are using traditional voting procedures.
Over 100 local and 60 international observers are registered to monitor one of the most closely-watched elections in independent Georgia. The main local observers – International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy, Georgian Young Lawyers Association and My Vote, which is a coalition of dozens local civil society groups – will give regular updates on the election and any potential violations during and after the election. The OSCE/ODIHR will provide their assessment the next day.
Various new civic and civil society initiatives have also emerged to protect votes, educate voters, and provide shelter/transportation inside and outside the country for those living far from their polling stations.
Calculating and Resulting
The Central Election Commission will release preliminary results on the same day, after the polls have closed at 8 pm.
After all ballots, including those in electronic precincts, have been manually counted, the final official results will be announced the next morning.
ISFED is the only organization that will provide the results of Parallel Vote Tabulation, a statistical method for verifying the official results. The PVT results will also be released on October 27 after the official results have been announced.
Some TV networks plan on releasing exit poll results as soon as the polls close, at 8 pm local time. Civil.ge will announce the names of TV stations and pollsters.
Follow our Election Live Blog to stay up-to-date, even on the day of the polling.
Learn more about the context.
* The October Elections: Odds and Context
* Campaign Highlights Before the 2024 October Vote
* Thousands of Volunteers Protect Votes at Georgia’s “Russia vs Europe” Elections
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