Parliamentary Elections Begin in Georgia, Pivotal in Defining its Future: With the EU or Russia
Voting in Georgia's parliamentary elections began on Saturday, 26 October, with polling stations opening at 08:00 local time throughout the country, except for the occupied Abkhazia and Tskhinvali region, Batumelebi reports.
Mass protests preceded the controversial election, which could determine its future with either Europe or Russia.
This year's elections in Georgia are being held for the first time using new electronic technologies.
Out of 3,030 polling stations, 2,262 will be able to vote electronically, which is more than 89% of voters. At 768 polling stations, voting will take place in the traditional way.
The elections will be monitored by 111 local and 76 international organisations.
This year, 18 political entities are taking part in the elections. According to the latest data, 3,508,294 voters are registered in the unified list. Of these, 317,119 are registered as voters in Ajara.
In addition to the parliamentary elections, elections to the Supreme Council of Ajara are also taking place in Ajara. There are 11 parties running in these elections.
According to the Central Election Commission (CEC), there are 3,044 polling stations in Georgia. Another 67 polling stations will operate outside the country - in 53 cities in 42 countries.
