EGN NEWS DESK
This parliamentary election is broadly thought to be a defining level for the nation’s worldwide standing — it might decide whether or not Georgia tilts towards the EU or Moscow.
Opposition politician Ana Natsvlishvili from the Strong Georgia party stated legislation enforcement authorities have been idle, even though “organized legal gangs … try to undermine the voting course of with aggression and intimidation.”
Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili urged the Interior Ministry to take away criminals from polling locations.
The ruling Georgian Dream party’s parliamentary chief, Mamuka Mdinaradze, speculated that an opposition TV channel is perhaps “staging particular operations” to create the impression of chaos.
A polling station in Marneuli, a city in southern Georgia, was closed down after a video circulated on-line displaying a person, recognized as a ruling party consultant, stuffing a poll field with dozens of ballots. An investigation was launched into doable “election fraud,” and Georgia’s Central Election Committee stated the ballots solid at that polling station will likely be invalidated.
Georgia’s Central Election Commission reported voter turnout at 41.62 % as of three p.m. Tbilisi time.
