11 million ballot papers for municipal elections
By Gvantsa Gabekhadze
Tuesday, October 3
On October 21, Georgian voters will elect the 2,058 members of the country’s 64 city councils (Sakrebulos) and 64 municipal mayors.
Georgia’s Central Election Commission (CEC) has announced that 3,442,455 voters have been registered for the municipal elections.
The Deputy Head of the CEC, Giorgi Sharabidze, announced that about 11 million ballot papers will be printed for the elections, as voters will have to make choices for three different ballot papers: one for the proportional list, the second for the majoritarian list, and the third for mayors.
Printing of the ballot papers in ten different printing houses has not been launched yet, as October 9 is the deadline for political parties, election blocs and initiative groups to withdraw from the race.
“The printing process will be observed by local and foreign missions. We will ensure the safe distribution of the ballot papers to their destinations,” Sharabidze claimed.
A total of 387 mayoral candidates from different parties have been registered for the mayoral races throughout Georgia.
Meanwhile, 17 political parties have presented their party lists for the municipal elections, and 22 political parties, five election blocs and one initiative group have registered their party lists for the Tbilisi Sakrebulo.
Five political parties were refused to participate in the elections due to certain discrepancies or violations in their election documentation.
A total of 47 local observing organizations have been registered to monitor the elections, and 23 international organizations have addressed the CEC so far to observe the race.
In addition, 21 media outlets have been registered to cover the election process.
The number of observers and media monitoring and covering the elections will rise as October 14 is the deadline for international observing organizations to address the CEC for registration.
18 October is the deadline for media organizations to register for the elections.
