Georgian Presidential Election to go for Second Run-off

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Election Commission officials count votes after presidential election at a polling station in Kutaisi
Election Commission officials count votes after presidential election at a polling station in Kutaisi, Georgia, October 28, 2018.

According to preliminary results from the Election Administration, Georgia’s presidential election will go to a second round run-off after no candidate won more than 50% of Sunday’s vote.

With over 99% of votes counted, Georgian Dream–endorsed candidate Salome Zurabishvili leads with 39% of votes with the UNM’s Grigol Vashadze in second with 38%, OC Media reports.

A runoff will take place between the two no later than 1 December.

According to the Election Administration, turnout for Sunday’s vote was 46.7%, almost identical to the 46.6% during the previous presidential election in 2013.

Presidential elections were held in Georgia on 28 October 2018, the seventh presidential elections since the country’s restoration of independence from the Soviet Union in 1991.

The last elections in October 2013 resulted in a victory for Giorgi Margvelashvili, a candidate of the Georgian Dream coalition.