Georgia to hold partial recount amid allegations of election fraud | Election news

Ballots will be recounted at five randomly selected polling places in each of Georgia’s 84 congressional districts.

Georgia will conduct a partial recount of ballots after allegations of fraud in Saturday’s parliamentary elections.

The Central Election Commission said Tuesday it would conduct a recount of votes in a small number of randomly selected polling stations. Mass rallies and international concern were sparked by opposition claims that the vote, which led to a landslide victory for the ruling Georgian Dream party, was rigged.

The government rejected allegations of fraud and the election commission called the vote free and fair. However, it announced that it will now recount ballots at five randomly selected polling places in each of Georgia’s 84 congressional districts.

About 14 percent of polling stations will take part in the recount. Election observers reported irregularities in more than a third of polling stations.

Official results released on Sunday showed Georgian Dream, which is accused of bringing the country back into Russia’s sphere of influence, won almost 54 percent of the vote.

After opposition parties and pro-Western President Salome Zurabishvili said the election results were rigged, tens of thousands of protesters took to the streets on Monday evening.

“To ensure transparency, all authorized representatives are asked to observe the ballot recount process,” the commission said in a statement.

“The polling stations have already been determined by drawing lots, and the results of the identified polling stations will undergo a recount of votes,” the department added.

Russia was accused of interfering in the elections. On Tuesday, Moscow reiterated its denial, insisting that the Kremlin is not involved in Georgia’s internal affairs.

The European Union, NATO and the United States have demanded a full investigation into allegations of vote buying, voter intimidation and ballot stuffing raised by observers from the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) and other independent organizations.

The Georgian monitoring coalition My Voice said it had found evidence of “large-scale election fraud” assessed through photographs, videos and witness testimony from observers.

The department said it had recorded more than 900 reports of voting irregularities in more than a third of polling stations across the country.

Official results showed Georgian Dream received 1.12 million votes, 335,000 more than the four main opposition parties combined.

Georgian Dream has vowed to continue the country’s bid for EU membership. But Georgia has recently been rocked by mass protests as the ruling party pushed through legislation that critics say is clearly influenced by Moscow.

That prompted the EU to halt its membership process over concerns over the rule of law after the ruling party also vowed to “reset” relations with Russia.