Georgian presidential election, 2018
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| Registered | 3,518,877[1] | ||||||||||||
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| Turnout | 46.83% (first round) | ||||||||||||
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First round results by region or municipality | |||||||||||||
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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.
Following amendments to the constitution in 2017, the 2018 elections will be the last direct presidential vote; after 2018 presidents will be elected by the 300-member College of Electors. In view of these changes, the President will be elected for a term of six years in 2018.[2]
A second round involving Salome Zurabishvili and Grigol Vashadze will be held on 28 November 2018 because no candidate was able to secure at least 50% of the vote in the first round.[3]
Contents
Candidates[edit]
46 people applied to participate in the elections, 21 of which were rejected by the Election Administration of Georgia.[4] 25 presidential candidates were registered by the Election Administration of Georgia.[4][5] This is the largest number since Georgia's first presidential election in 1991.[6] All 25 candidates were included on the ballot paper.[7]
| Name | Occupation | Nominated by | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mikheil Antadze | Professor | State for the People Movement |
| 2 | Davit Bakradze | Member of Parliament | European Georgia |
| 4 | Vakhtang Gabunia | Politician | Christian‐Democratic Movement |
| 5 | Grigol Vashadze | Former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Georgia (2008-2012) | United National Movement |
| 10 | Shalva Natelashvili | Leader of Georgian Labour Party | Georgian Labour Party |
| 13 | Zviad Mekhatishvili | Politician | Christian‐Conservative Party of Georgia |
| 17 | Giorgi Liluashvili | Vice President of Georgian National Academy | Party Georgia |
| 18 | Akaki Asatiani | Politician | Union of Georgian Traditionalists |
| 21 | Kakha Kukava | Politician | Free Georgia |
| 22 | Otar Meunargia | Industry Will Save Georgia | |
| 23 | Irakli Gorgadze | Unemployed | Movement for a Free Georgia |
| 25 | David Usupashvili | Leader of Development Movement, former chairman of the Parliament of Georgia | Free Democrats |
| 27 | Zviad Baghdavadze | Unemployed | Civic Platform – New Georgia |
| 28 | Mikheil Saluashvili | Politician | Union of Justice Restoration of the Nation: The Lord Is Our Truth |
| 30 | Zviad Iashvili | Unemployed | National‐Democratic Party |
| 31 | Tamar Tskhoragauli | Entrepreneur | Political Movement Freedom – Zviad Gamsakhurdia’s Way |
| 35 | Gela Khutsishvili | Politician | Political Movement of the Veterans and Patriots of Georgia |
| 36 | Zurab Japaridze | Leader of Girchi | Girchi |
| 40 | Levan Chkheidze | Chkheidze and Partners Law Firm | New Christian‐Democrats |
| 48 | Salome Zurabishvili | Member of Parliament | Initiative Group of Voters |
| 49 | Besarion Tediashvili | Founder of TF Construction | Initiative Group of Voters |
| 51 | Giorgi Andriadze | Deputy Chairperson of the Commission for Learning Christian Theology and History of Religion at the Georgian Academy of Sciences | Initiative Group of Voters |
| 58 | Kakhaber Chichinadze | Entrepreneur | Initiative Group of Voters |
| 62 | Vladimer Nonikashvili | Director of Publishing House Paragraph | Initiative Group of Voters |
| 65 | Teimuraz Shashiashvili | Unemployed | Initiative Group of Voters |
Declined[edit]
Democratic Movement[edit]
- Nino Burjanadze, Georgian politician and lawyer who served as Chairman of Parliament of Georgia (2001-2008). She has served as the acting President of Georgia twice.[8] She backed out of the election on 8 September.[9]
Independent[edit]
- Giorgi Margvelashvili, incumbent President, officially refused to take part in the election in late August.[10][11]
Opinion polls[edit]
| Pollster | Date | Bakradze EG |
Vashadze UNM |
Zurabishvili Independent |
Natelashvili Labour |
Usupashvili DM |
Japaridze Girchi |
Burjanadze DMUG |
TBD APG |
Margvelashvili Independent |
Elisashvili Independent |
Kukava FG |
Bregadze GM |
None of the Above | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| EXIT POLLS: BCG |
28.10.18 | 17% | 37% | 34% | 5% | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| EXIT POLLS: Psychoportrait |
28.10.18 | 9% | 28% | 52% | 2% | 2% | 3% | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| EXIT POLLS: Edison Research |
28.10.18 | 10% | 40% | 40% | 3% | 2% | 3% | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| Election day (28 October) | ||||||||||||||||
| BCG | 20.10.18-24.10.18 | 30% | 27% | 33% | 4% | 2% | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| Edison Research | 15.10.18-24.10.18 | 16% | 37% | 32% | 6% | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 8% | ||
| IPN, Ambebi.ge, Kvirispalitra.ge | 24.10.18 | 5% | 27% | 31% | 3% | 11% | 5% | - | - | - | - | - | - | 18% | ||
| Edison Research | 25.09.18-4.10.18 | 15% | 31% | 16% | 7% | 3% | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 21% | ||
| BCG | 15-22 September 2018 | 29% | 28% | 21% | 10% | 6% | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6% | ||
| Edison Research | 3-23 September 2018 | 18% | 22% | 15% | 8% | 3% | 2% | - | - | - | - | - | - | 32% | ||
| Primary | August-September 2018 | 18.9% | 43.9% | 8.8% | 5.7% | 2.1% | - | - | - | - | 3.9% | 8% | - | - | ||
| Newposts | August 2018 | 15% | 25% | 12% | 4% | 2% | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 33% | ||
| Allnews | 2 August 2018 | 5% | 18% | 19% | - | - | - | 8% | - | 6% | 10% | - | - | 30% | ||
| Metronome | August 2018 | 5% | 37% | 8% | 2% | 3% | 27% | 3% | - | 2% | 2% | - | - | 8% | ||
| NDI | 23.06.18 —08.07.18 | 6% | 10% | 12% | 4% | - | - | - | - | 6% | - | - | - | - | ||
| IRI | 01.04.18 —22.04.18 | 16% | 8% | 17% | 1% | - | - | - | 3% | 10% | - | - | - | - | ||
Second round[edit]
| Poll source | Date(s) administered |
Vashadze UNM |
Zurabishvili Independent |
Undecided | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Edison Research | 1–9 November 2018 | 41% | 36% | 23% | |
| First round (28 October) | |||||
| BCG | 20–24 October 2018 | 39% | 27% | - | |
| Edison Research | 15–24 October 2018 | 44% | 29% | 27% | |
| BCG | 15–22 September 2018 | 40% | 19% | 40% | |
| Edison Research | 14–23 September 2018 | 50% | 24% | 26% | |
Approval ratings[edit]
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Results[edit]
| Candidate | Party | First round | Second round | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Votes | % | Votes | % | |||
| Salomé Zurabishvili | Independent | 615,572 | 38.64 | |||
| Grigol Vashadze | United National Movement | 601,224 | 37.74 | |||
| Davit Bakradze | European Georgia | 174,849 | 10.97 | |||
| Shalva Natelashvili | Georgian Labour Party | 59,651 | 3.74 | |||
| David Usupashvili | Development Movement | 36,037 | 2.26 | |||
| Zurab Japaridze | Girchi | 36,034 | 2.26 | |||
| Kakha Kukava | Free Georgia | 21,186 | 1.33 | |||
| Giorgi Andriadze | Independent | 13,133 | 0.82 | |||
| Teimuraz Shashiashvili | Independent | 9,481 | 0.60 | |||
| Tamar Tskhoragauli | Freedom - Zviad Gamsakhurdia's Way | 4,004 | 0.25 | |||
| Besarion Tediashvili | Independent | 3,713 | 0.23 | |||
| Mikheil Saluashvili | Union for the Restoration of Justice | 2,970 | 0.19 | |||
| Levan Chkheidze | New Christian Democrats | 2,895 | 0.18 | |||
| Akaki Asatiani | Union of Georgian Traditionalists | 1,994 | 0.13 | |||
| Vakhtang Gabunia | Christian Democratic Movement | 1,958 | 0.12 | |||
| Gela Khutsishvili | Georgian Veterans' and Patriots' Political Movement | 1,623 | 0.10 | |||
| Kakhaber Chichinadze | Independent | 1,418 | 0.09 | |||
| Mikheil Antadze | State for the People | 1,074 | 0.07 | |||
| Giorgi Liluashvili | Georgia Party | 892 | 0.06 | |||
| Zviad Mekhatishvili | Georgan Christian-Conservative Party | 713 | 0.04 | |||
| Otar Meunargia | Industry Will Save Georgia | 664 | 0.04 | |||
| Vladimer Nonikashvili | Independent | 633 | 0.04 | |||
| Irakli Gorgadze | Movement for a Free Georgia | 531 | 0.03 | |||
| Zviad Baghdavadze | Citizen Platform - New Georgia | 477 | 0.03 | |||
| Zviad Iashvili | National Democratic Party | 444 | 0.03 | |||
| Invalid/blank votes | 53,847 | – | – | |||
| Total | 1,647,878 | 100 | ||||
| Registered voters/turnout | 3,518,877 | 46.83 | ||||
| Source:[12] | ||||||
Reactions[edit]
According to observers, the elections were "competitive and professionally administered." However, they saw a "substantial imbalance in donations", "excessively high spending limits", and a "lack of analytical reporting" as contributing factors to an unlevel playing field.[13]
References[edit]
- ^ "Certified Official Results of the 28 October 2018 First Round of the Georgian Presidential Election" (PDF). Central Election Commission (in Georgian). Retrieved 2018-11-14.
- ^ "Key Points of Newly Adopted Constitution". Civil Georgia. 27 September 2017. Retrieved 9 December 2017.
- ^ "Second Round of Presidential Election will be Held on November 28". Central Election Commission. Retrieved 2018-11-14.
- ^ a b 25 Presidential Candidates are Registered for October 28, 2018 Elections
- ^ October 28, 2018 Presidential Elections of Georgia Registered Presidential Candidates
- ^ "Presidential Elections 2018: Weekly Digest No.2". Civil.ge:. 2018-09-25. Retrieved 2018-10-12.
- ^ The Term for Presidential Candidates to Withdraw their Candidacies has Expired
- ^ "Presidential Candidate Zurabishvili Claims Georgia Started August 2008 War". Georgia Today on the Web. Retrieved 2018-10-02.
- ^ "Nino Burjanadze boycotts presidential election". Interpressnews. 8 September 2018. Retrieved 9 September 2018.
- ^ "Current president Giorgi Margvelashvili not to run in presidential elections". Agenda.ge. Retrieved 2018-10-05.
- ^ "Goodbye, Mr. President". Georgia Today on the Web. Retrieved 2018-10-05.
- ^ "Certified Official Results of the 28 October 2018 First Round of the Georgian Presidential Election" (PDF). Central Election Commission (in Georgian). Retrieved 2018-11-14.
- ^ ¢Voters had a genuine choice and candidates campaigned freely, but on an unlevel playing field, international observers say Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, press release of October 29, 2018.