Georgia kicks off parliamentary elections

TBILISI - Georgia kicked off its parliamentary elections on Saturday morning to renew its 150-member top legislative body for the next four years.

More than 3.5 million registered voters are expected to cast their ballots at more than 3,600 polling stations across the country and 55 polling stations overseas from 8 a.m. (0400 GMT) till 8 p.m. (1600 GMT), Anna Mikeladze, spokesperson for the Central Election Commission (CEC), said Saturday.

Among the 19 political parties that are running for parliamentary seats, any party which garners more than 5 percent of the total ballots will be allocated seats in proportion to their shares of votes, according to the CEC.

A total of 1,440 international observers from 55 international organizations have been registered to monitor the elections, said the CEC.

After casting his ballot at one polling station in the capital of Tbilisi on Saturday morning, President Giorgi Margvelashvili called on Georgian people to exercise their democratic rights.

"We are making a step toward strengthening our country and democracy. I am glad there are many people in this precinct and there is calmness at the polling stations," said the president.

The ruling Georgian Dream coalition came into power in 2012 after defeating the United National Movement in the parliamentary elections that year with 54.85 percent of the vote.