TBILISI, October 4 – Candidates from Georgia’s ruling Georgian Dream party won all four municipal by-elections held on Saturday, according to preliminary results from the Central Election Commission.
The votes were held in Vani, Dmanisi, Tsalka and Akhmeta to elect four majoritarian members of local municipal councils. A total of 2,225 voters were registered across seven polling stations, Interpressnews reported.
Georgian Dream faced Strong Georgia-Lelo candidates in Vani, Dmanisi and Tsalka. In Akhmeta, Georgian Dream was the only party with a candidate.
According to preliminary results, Georgian Dream won 87.2% of the vote in Vani, with 387 votes, against 57 votes, or 12.8%, for Strong Georgia-Lelo.
The ruling party’s margin was much larger in Dmanisi, where its candidate received 131 votes, or 98.5%, compared with two votes for Strong Georgia-Lelo.
In Tsalka, Georgian Dream received 415 votes, or 96.7%, while Strong Georgia-Lelo received 14 votes. The sole candidate in Akhmeta received 115 votes.
Overall turnout was 51.6%, with 1,136 voters taking part.
The elections used a mix of electronic and traditional voting, where electronic voter verification and vote-counting machines were used at three polling stations in Tsalka and at the Vani polling station, while the remaining stations used traditional voting procedures.
Central Election Commission chairman Giorgi Kalandarishvili said the voting had taken place in a calm, organized and competitive environment and that voters had been able to make their choices freely.
The commission said no complaints were filed with district election commissions. One complaint was submitted at precinct level concerning rules for photo and video recording. According to Kalandarishvili, the person involved corrected the issue after receiving instructions.
The by-election in the Akhmeta municipality village of Kasristskali was called after the previous council member, Adam Mozaidze, was arrested over alleged bribery.
