Parliamentary elections were held in Georgia on 26 October. It was the first election in the country using electronic ballot boxes, which were installed in 74% of polling stations, covering almost 90% of voters. According to the Central Election Commission, the turnout was 58.94%.
After the publication of the CEC data, three opposition parties - ‘Coalition for Change’, ‘Unity - National Movement' and 'Strong Georgia' - announced that they would not recognise the election results, as some exit polls indicated their aggregate victory. One of the leaders of the ‘Coalition for Change’, Elene Khoshtaria, said the party has been embarking on continuous protests since 27 October.
Before the election, the ruling party said it needed a coalition majority (113 out of 150 mandates) to declare unconstitutional former President Mikheil Saakashvili's United National Movement party, which ran under the name ‘Unity - National Movement’, teaming up with some opposition politicians. At the same time, the opposition wanted to get more votes than Georgian Dream to form a coalition government.