Georgian president on track to win election

President Mikhail Saakashvili was on track to win 52.50% of the vote in Georgia’s presidential election today, according to an exit poll based on results as of 4pm (12pm Irish time) – four hours before the polls closed.

If confirmed in the final vote, this would give him the absolute majority needed to avoid a run-off election in two weeks.

The exit poll indicated Mr Saakashvili’s leading challenger, Levan Gachechiladze, was receiving 28.5%.

Badri Patarkatsishvili, a billionaire who has been accused of plotting to overthrow the government, was running third with 6.0%, according to the early exit poll.

The poll had a margin of error of plus or minus 2-3 percentage points, organisers said.

They had anticipated that 12,000 voters nationwide would take part, but said that 23% of voters who were approached refused to participate. As of 4pm, 6,000 people had been surveyed, the organisers said.

The poll was carried out by a consortium of public organisations: Ilia Chavchavadze State University, Caucasus Institute for Peace, Democracy and Development, Georgian Institute for Public Affairs, and Georgian Foundation for Strategic International Survey. It was to be monitored by foreign observers from the US, Estonia and Ukraine.

A coalition of nine opposition parties backing Mr Gachechiladze had urged Georgians not to trust the poll, saying that it could not be considered objective because it was financed by four television stations that are either state-owned or considered government-friendly.

Voters were polled outside the polling stations. They had a choice of submitting their answers in face-to-face anonymous interviews or filling out a written questionnaire and dropping it into a box.