Georgia Votes in High-Stakes Election Under Specter of Russian Interference [Video]

Ballot stuffing was among the violations reported on Saturday during Georgia’s parliamentary elections, which is seen as a battle between Tbilisi’s trajectory toward the EU and its return to Moscow’s orbit.

Georgia’s Central Election Commission closed a polling station in the southern city of Marneuli after footage emerged of votes being pushed into a ballot box, prompting an Interior Ministry investigation, Georgia media outlet SOVA reported.

In an update provided to Newsweek at 5.p.m local time on Saturday, the Georgian election monitoring group International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy said “multiple problematic incidents and violations were recorded throughout the country.”

These included the violation of vote secrecy, restrictions on the rights of observers and physical violence against them, the mobilization of voters, and malfunctioning electronic devices.

There were also reports of intimidation and unauthorized gatherings …