Voter turnout in Sunday's local elections in Georgia passed 40% with three hours of polling left, the election commission press service said.
At 5 p.m. local time (13:00 GMT), 40.42% of the electorate had voted, or 1,432,897 people.
The nationwide elections are the first since the August 2008 war with Russia and are widely seen as a referendum on the popularity of President Mikheil Saakashvili. As well as 64 municipal councils, voters will directly elect the mayor of Tbilisi for the first time, and fill three vacant seats in parliament.
Polls close at 8 p.m. (16:00 GMT). There is no turnout requirement for the elections to be declared valid.
TBILISI, May 30 (RIA Novosti)
