CEC head denies early reports of violations

Representatives from a Georgian trade union monitoring the election said observers were not allowed at an election district in Tsalka, and that ballots cast for candidates other than incumbent Mikheil Saakashvili were torn up in a Tbilisi suburb.

A Central Election Commission spokesman said those reports were not true; he also denied claims from opposition campaigners of broader scale fraud.

Not terribly well practiced in democratic elections, Georgia will inevitably have more than a few violations and irregularities to report today. The key question is whether voters will perceive violations as systematic and ultimately affecting the entire election result.