The Central Election Commission (CEC) of Georgia released preliminary results of the 2017 Municipal Elections. The ruling Georgian Dream party’s candidate Kakha Kaladze appears to be winning the mayoral race in capital Tbilisi, Agenda.ge reports.
CEC calculated votes from all 737 precincts across Tbilisi.
According to preliminary results, Georgian Dream's Kakha Kaladze received 51.06 % of votes, which independent candidate Aleksandre Elisashvili was second with 17.47 % of votes.
To win the mayoral race, a candidate must clear a 50 percent threshold.
According to these preliminary results, Kaladze has become Tbilisi mayor and no election runoff will be needed in the capital city.
There are four more self-governing cities other than Tbilisi in Georgia.
CEC preliminary results showed that in all of these cities – Batumi, Kutaisi, Rustavi, Poti – the Georgian Dream candidates are winning overwhelmingly.
In Batumi, Rustavi and Poti, Georgian Dream candidates overcame the 50 percent threshold, however in Kutaisi the leading candidate only has 48.56 %. This means a second round of mayoral elections might be needed in Kutaisi.
