Parliamentary elections started in Georgia

Polling stations in Georgia, where the parliamentary elections are taking place on October 26, started their work at 8:00 am.

According to Ukrainian MP Oleksiy Honcharenko, who is in the country as an observer from the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, electronic ballot boxes are used for voting - a person has to shade a circle and then send the ballot to the machine.

Photo: Oleksiy Honcharenko/telegram

According to Yevropeiska Pravda, polling stations have opened across the country, except for the occupied Abkhazia and Tskhinvali regions, and will close at 20:00.

The elections will be considered valid with any turnout. A total of 18 parties will be on the ballot. To get into the parliament, parties will have to overcome a five percent threshold.

For the first time, the newparliament will be elected not by a mixed-member system, as before, but by a fully proportional system. First, the Central Election Commission will announce the electronic vote count, then the ballots will be recounted manually, and the "manual" result will be considered the real one.

On the eve of the vote, the rating of the ruling Georgian Dream party ranges from 34-35%, which, in the absence of a "first-past-the-post" system, according to journalists, virtually eliminates the chances of forming a new parliamentary majority.

In this year's elections in Georgia, 19 parties have registered, but overcoming the 5% threshold is considered realistic for five political forces: the ruling Georgian Dream party and four opposition associations - Unity, Coalition for Change, Strong Georgia, and For Georgia.

Earlier, Georgia's opposition TV channels - Formula, Pirveli and Mtavari - were fined 5,000 GEL (equal to 72.5 thousand hryvnias) each for refusing to air election ads of the ruling Georgian Dream party with destroyed Ukrainian cities.

Кирило Бойко