TBILISI, Nov.12 (Xinhua) -- Georgia on Sunday kicked off the second round of municipal elections in six cities.
According to Georgia's Central Election Commission (CEC), the six cities are Kutaisi, Ozurgeti, and Martvili in western Georgia, and Kazbegi, Khashuri, and Borjomi in eastern Georgia, where no candidate cleared the 50 percent threshold during the first vote on Oct. 21.
Totally 317 polling stations for 328,272 eligible voters in the six cities were opened on 8:00 Sunday morning, said Ana Mikeladze, the CEC spokesperson.
The opposition United National Movement had refused to participate in the runoff elections but according to the Georgian election code, their candidates will still be written in election ballots.
All the 317 polling stations will close at exactly 8 pm and the process of counting votes will begin immediately. The final results will be available on Monday.
Georgia kicked off its local elections across the country on Oct. 21, voting for 2,058 members of 64 city councils and 64 municipal mayors.
According to the CEC, the ruling Georgian Dream--Democratic Georgia party candidates had won all the municipal elections with a single vote except the six cities.
