NGOs report violations at municipal elections in Georgia

According to the NGO "Free Zone", incidents were fixed at several polling stations of Georgia during the second round of municipal elections. According to the NGO "Multinational Georgia", about 20 violations were registered in the districts with the predominant population of national minorities.

Let us remind you that the second round of elections of city mayors and heads of district administrations was held in Georgia on July 12. Almost in all towns and districts the nominees of the ruling coalition "Georgian Dream" were the winners.

Goga Khachidze, a Georgian MP from the oppositional "United National Movement", said that the ruling coalition was buying votes.

Arnold Stepanyan, the head of the above NGO "Multinational Georgia", who was monitoring the voting in the districts inhabited by ethnic minorities, told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent that during the whole day they registered about 20 violations and lodged 15 complaints.

"The violations were purely procedural in nature; and we haven't fixed any violations that could indicate any political pressure," said Stepanyan.

According to the Central Election Commission, the overall voter turnout was 35.99%, which is lower than during the first round of elections.