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Georgian presidential election to be observed by 57 local, 55 foreign organizations

Georgia’s Central Election Commission registered officially 23 presidential candidates

TBILISI, October 18 (Itar-Tass) - Georgia’s Central Election Commission has finalized registration of local and foreign organizations to monitor the presidential election due October 27, the authority told reporters on Friday.

The commission has registered 57 local and 55 foreign organizations, whose representatives will observe the election on the day. Mass media’s 84 institutions, where 35 are foreign ones including Russian media, are registered to cover the election.

The election will be observed by international organizations like OSCE’s Office for Democratic Institutions, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, NATO’s Parliamentary Assembly, the European Parliament, the BSEC, the US International Republican Institute (IRI), the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs (NDI), International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES) and others.

Georgia’s Central Election Commission officially registered 23 presidential candidates, which is a record in the country’s history. The candidates include Georgi Margvelashvili of Georgian Dream, Nino Burdzhanadze (former speaker of the parliament), David Bakradze of United National Movement, Shalva Natelashvili of the Labor Party, and others. Earlier, presidential elections in Georgia featured 5-7 candidates.

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