Voting has started in Georgia

Parliamentary elections started on Saturday in Georgia, with citizens voting for the 11th convocation of the legislative body.

Voters will elect 150 members of the Parliament for a four-year term through a proportional electoral system.

Parliamentary seats will be allocated among political parties that will overcome the five percent electoral threshold.

A total of 18 political entities participate in Saturday’s elections.

Polling stations opened at 08:00 and will remain open until 20:00.

Voting is possible by appearing in person at a polling station or through a mobile ballot box. A total of 64,238 voters have requested the mobile ballot box service from the election administration.

According to electoral legislation, proxy voting (including by power of attorney) is prohibited. Dual citizens, those who hold Georgian citizenship along with citizenship of another country, are eligible to vote in the elections.

The total number of registered voters in Georgia is 3,508,294, with 3,113,747 eligible to participate through electronic technology.

This year, 135,922 young people will be able to vote for the first time.

In total, 3,111 polling stations are available to voters, with 3,044 located in Georgia. This includes 13 special polling stations: 12 in penitentiary facilities and one in a mental health center.

Abroad, 67 polling stations have been set up in 53 cities across 42 countries, where 95,910 voters are registered in special voter lists.

All Georgian citizens aged 18 or older by election day, and who meet the conditions set by the election code, are eligible to vote.

However, Georgian citizens who are serving a sentence in a correctional facility for a particularly serious crime or are court-recognised as legally incapacitated and placed in a specialised medical facility are not eligible to vote.

The election process is monitored by over 1,700 observers from 76 international organisations, and more than 23,000 observers from 111 local organizations. Additionally, over 2,800 representatives from 199 media organisations are covering the voting.