This parliamentary election is widely regarded as a defining point for the country’s international standing — it could determine whether Georgia tilts toward the EU or Moscow.
Opposition politician Ana Natsvlishvili from the Strong Georgia party said law enforcement authorities were idle, despite the fact that “organized criminal gangs … are trying to undermine the voting process with aggression and intimidation.”
Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili urged the Interior Ministry to remove criminals from polling places.
The ruling Georgian Dream party’s parliamentary leader, Mamuka Mdinaradze, speculated that an opposition TV channel might be “staging special operations” to create the impression of chaos.
A polling station in Marneuli, a town in southern Georgia, was closed down after a video circulated online showing a man, identified as a ruling party representative, stuffing a ballot box with dozens of ballots. An investigation was launched into possible “election fraud,” and Georgia’s Central Election Committee said the ballots cast at that polling station will be invalidated.
Georgia’s Central Election Commission reported voter turnout at 41.62 percent as of 3 p.m. Tbilisi time.
