Violence mars voting in Georgia’s pivotal election – POLITICO

This parliamentary election is widely recognized as: a defining point In terms of the country’s international standing, it may determine whether Georgia will approach the EU or Moscow.

Ana Natsvlishvili, an opposition politician from the powerful Georgian party, said that “organized criminal gangs… try to undermine “The voting process involved aggression and intimidation.”

Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili called on the Ministry of Internal Affairs: eliminate criminals from polling places.

Mamuka Mdinaradze, the parliamentary leader of the ruling Georgian Dream party, claimed that an opposition TV channel was “organizing special operations” to create the impression of chaos.

A polling station in Marneuli, a town in southern Georgia, was closed after a video appeared online showing a man identified as a ruling party representative filling a ballot box with dozens of ballots. An investigation was launched into possible “election fraud” and the Central Election Committee of Georgia said that the votes cast in the ballot box in question would be invalidated.

The Central Election Commission of Georgia reported that voter turnout was 41.62 percent as of 15:00 Tbilisi time.