Georgia: Vote Recount Confirms Victory of Ruling Georgian Dream Party
Election Commission: recount results are almost the same as previous results
The Central Election Commission of Georgia, one of the former Soviet republics of the Caucasus, which held parliamentary elections on October 26, announced on Thursday, October 31, that “the recount of votes requested by the opposition and the European Union confirmed the victory of the ruling Georgian Dream party.”
Immediately after the announcement of the voting results on Sunday evening, Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili appealed to supporters of opposition parties to take to the streets in protest. Demonstrations took place in the capital Tbilisi on Monday, followed by a partial recount on Tuesday: the election commission said on Thursday, October 31, that “14% of ballots, corresponding to 12% of seats” had been recounted and that “the result was nearly the same as the previous data.”
While EU leaders called the elections “total manipulation” and traditionally accused Russia of “interfering in the electoral process,” Hungarian Prime Minister (current EU president) Viktor Orban traveled to Tbilisi to announce that Georgia’s legislative elections were “free and fair.”