26 October 2013, 20:30
CEC: 3689 polling stations will operate on the voting day
The Central Election Commission (CEC) of Georgia is ready for the voting at the presidential election on October 27. All the polling stations of Georgia have received ballot papers and all the equipment needed for the vote, Tamar Zhvaniya, the Chair of the CEC, said at a briefing.
In total, 3,537,719 voters have been registered for the election, except for those citizens who had been removed from registration and, therefore, withdrawn from the voters' list. Georgia will open 3689 polling stations in the country and 50 abroad. The monitoring of the voting process will be held by up to 47,000 representatives of the presidential candidates and political parties, and up to 20,000 observers from the Georgian NGOs and 1300 observers from international organizations.
In total, 23 candidates are running for the Georgian presidency. The incumbent president of Georgia, Mikhail Saakashvili, who is completing his second term, has no right to run for re-election.
Georgian political analysts believe that the main battle will be among Georgy Margvelashvily, the former head of the Ministry of Education and the candidate from the ruling coalition "Georgian Dream"; David Bakradze, the former Speaker of the National Assembly and the candidate from the pro-presidential "United National Movement"; and the former Speaker of Parliament Nino Burjanadze, the leader of the "Democratic Movement-United Georgia".
Author: Inna Kukudzhanova Source: CK correspondent
