Election officials at a polling station in one of Tbilisi’s Saburtalo districts empty ballot box, October 27. Photo: Guram Muradov/Civil.ge

With almost all the votes already counted, official results give GD presidential candidate Giorgi Margvelashvili an outright victory in the October 27 election.

Margvelashvili is leading with over 62.07% of vote, followed by UNM’s Davit Bakradze with over 21.78% and Nino Burjanadze with 10.19%, according to the Central Election Commission.

UNM’s Bakradze has conceded defeat and congratulated Margvelashvili on “winning presidential election.”

If this result stands it will make Burjanadze allegeable to state funding. According to election code a party whose candidate garners at least 10% of votes, will have to receive state funding to cover its election campaign expenses in an amount of maximum GEL 1 million.

Labor Party leader, Shalva Natelashvili, has 2.87% of votes and Christian-Democratic Movement leader Giorgi Targamadze - 1.07%.

Voter turnout, according to the Central Election Commission, was 46.6% in the October 27 presidential election, lower than in last year’s parliamentary vote when the figure stood at 61.31%.

International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy, the largest Georgian election observer group, said that election day was “calm” and voting was held in observance of procedures in the majority of polling stations. Among “the significant shortcomings” were cases of casting ballot with invalid IDs  and problems with voter lists in Batumi in Adjara Autonomous Republic, said ISFED, which has 1,200 observers across the country. Its observers filed so far up to 45 complaints.

Another Tbilisi-based watchdog group, Transparency International, which has 370 observers, said that its monitors observed 70 cases of “significant procedural violations”, filing so far 34 complaints.